Sand Lover
by Ykarzel
Summary: Seto takes his little brother on vacations to a beach, only to discover that Joey is a lifegaurd. Somehow he finds himself entangled in the lives of Joey and Joey's roomate Jason. Yaoi. Lemons posted elsewhere. Complete.
1. Part One of Two

Sand Lover

By Ykarzel

Part One of Two

He hated sand. He didn't understand the appeal. It was uncomfortable to touch, irritating to the skin, and it got everywhere.

But that didn't stop Mokuba. He skipped ahead of Seto, already in bare feet despite the way the sand was scorched by the sun and burned Seto's toes every time it came up over the edges of his sandals. Seto's eyes scanned the shore for a lifeguard chair, and directed his brother to it.

The blanket had hardly reached the sand before Mokuba exclaimed, "Can I go swim now?"

"Stay close. Don't go too far out, understand? You don't swim well."

"Yes Seto," he answered, grinning.

"Go on then," Seto said with one of his rare smiles, reserved for Mokuba alone. Watching him squeal and sprint for the water made what would be ten days of discomfort worth it.

He reluctantly pulled his shirt off; the entire trip had originated from Mokuba's opinion that Seto was too pale. He looked sick-like, his younger brother decided. The excuse of preventing skin cancer was scoffed at.

Seto did have to admit, quietly and too himself, that the mirror often showed him a person who was much too transparent, much too thin. Perhaps a week of sun and junky beach food would do him some good, physically anyway. Mentally, he might be ready to banish all sand to the moon by the week's end.

He watched as Mokuba dived head first into the water, and mentally chuckled when the teenager came back up with hair covering his face. He didn't really want to take his eyes off his younger brother, not trusting the waves, but then mentally berated himself. Mokuba was a young adult, almost. He really needed to learn to let go, just a little. And starting in small amounts, like looking away, might make it easier later.

He turned over onto his back, closing his eyes. Maybe the sun would coax him to sleep. He seemed to be getting precious little as the school year began to approach.

Joey's eyes scanned the shore repeatedly, when he thought he heard a familiar voice. He mentally brushed it off. There were a lot of voices around him, any could sound familiar. Until right below him, "Yes Seto."

Before he could stop himself his eyes were ripped away from the water to look down, and his guess confirmed. There was Seto Kaiba and Mokuba, standing beside a blanket right beside his chair. _'Why would they be here?' _

He stared at them for another moment, and when Mokuba went sprinting off he returned his attention to the beach with a start. _'They haven't noticed me yet.'_

He pulled the whistle off his neck and after another scan of the shore, followed it with his lifeguard tank, leaving him clad only in his red swim shorts. He twirled the whistle around his wrist and shifted in his seat so the sun was even on his back. There was only a little over a week left before he had to go home, and he wanted his tan to be even before then.

It was a slow day, which wasn't a bad thing when you were a lifeguard. He blew loudly into his whistle, calling in two boys who were too far out. He scanned the water and picked out a head of black hair. He noticed that Mokuba wasn't too far out, and wondered if it was because Kaiba had told him too stay in.

That made him glance down at the brunette, and was shocked to see he was laid out, shirtless, on the blanket, his pale skin glistening in the sunlight. He'd expected Kaiba, being as protective of Mokuba as he was, to have his eyes glued to him. But even in the few seconds he spared to look down at the other man, Kaiba sat up and visually searched the water for his brother. Joey smiled to himself. Some things just don't change.

"Joey, that's not the water," came an amused voice.

Joey looked back out at the ocean. "Neither are you, Jason." He watched a wave shove Mokuba right over and noticed that he wasn't a good swimmer.

"Your shift's over in a minute. Emily's on her way over. You want to go get some lunch?" he asked, climbing up to hang from Joey's chair. Joey glanced down at Jason, meeting ocean blues that always reminded him of home for some reason. The fiery red head grinned at him.

"I'll go with you, if you come with me into the water first," Joey answered, looking back out at the ocean.

"Joey, you know I'm always willing to come with you."

Joey grinned, but didn't give Jason the satisfaction of looking down at him. He did, however, glance over at Kaiba, and found himself locked in a sharp blue gaze. _'Caught,'_ he thought. He grinned at the brunette, then focused back on the water. He reached a hand down to pull Jason a step higher, putting his face about level with Joey's knee.

"You really going home, Joe?"

Joey threaded a hand in Jason's hair. He really loved that hair. The deep red quality of it amazed him. Jason told him it was near auburn in the winter, that the sun made it the bright red. "Yeah, Jay. School starts back up soon. Maybe you'll be able to come visit. Meet my friends. Though, I think you'd be a bit of a culture shock to them."

Jason grinned, resting his head against Joey's knee. "There's a guy staring at us," he said softly.

"Blue eyed brunette?"

"Yeah. The one you were looking at before. Do you know him?"

"Remember the asshole I keep telling you about?"

Jason's eyes went wide and he looked up at Joey. "That's Seto Kaiba?" he hissed, not wanting his voice to carry.

Joey nodded. "I don't think he realized I was here until you started talking to me."

Jason peeked over Joey's knee to find Kaiba staring at him. He ducked back again, hiding his face behind Joey's thigh. After a moment he peeked back out, and as Kaiba was still staring at him, figured it was okay to stare right back. "He looks ill."

Joey glared at the water. "Probably working himself into the ground again."

Jason raised an eyebrow, though the blonde couldn't see it. "I thought you didn't like him?"

"I can't stand him half the time, but I don't hate him or anything. He's just an ass, that's all. His brother's great though. Soon as Emily gets here, we're gonna go meet Mokuba."

Jason jumped down off the chair. "Here she comes."

A light female voice drifted up to Joey. "Are you distracting Joey again, Jason?" she asked with a smile.

Jason smirked at her. "I'm doing my best. Maybe if you get up in that chair, I'll be able to cart him out of here and have my evil way with him."

Joey's water bottle smacked Jason right on the head. Emily laughed while Jason glared up at his attacker. Joey shrugged and jumped down off the chair, falling forward into Jason's arms. The redhead rolled his eyes and shoved the blonde away. "We'll see you later Em," Joey said, picking up his water bottle.

Joey looked over at Kaiba's blanket to find the brunette glaring down at the shore line. He walked over, and dropped his water bottle, towel, and shirt at the edge of the blanket. "Kaiba watch those for a minute, would ya? I'm gonna teach your brother how to swim."

Seto looked up, but before he had a chance to say anything, Joey smiled and ran down towards the beach, leaving Seto looking at Jason.

What were the chances? It was nearly impossible. Out of all the beaches, all the lifeguards, all the different places on the beach, he'd ended up right next to Joey, of all people. He couldn't help but watch them. Joey and this Jason person. At first out of shock, then just out of curiosity.

He watched as Joey jumped down, landing on his feet easily but falling into Jason's ready arms anyway. With a jerk he turned his attention to the water. Out of the corner of he eye, he saw Joey approaching, but he didn't look up until after the blonde had made his request.

Joey ran away, leaving Seto face to face with this person. The first thing he noticed was that he was looking into eyes the same color of his own. Jason stared at him for another moment, before turning and shouting at Joey to wait up.

Seto tried not to be angry. There was no reason to be angry. Just because Joey happened to be here today did not mean that he would have to see him through his whole vacation. There were plenty of other lifeguard chairs. Just because the blonde had no manners and hadn't even said hello was no reason to be angry. That Joey had rude friends was not Seto's problem. When had _Joey_ become a lifeguard? The childish side of him wanted to protest that nobody was safe in Joey's hands, but the practical side knew that Joey swam much better than anybody else he had ever met before.

He watched, with no small amount of jealousy as Mokuba shouted and jumped Joey, bringing them both tumbling into the sand.

"Joey!" Mokuba exclaimed, running to the blonde and crashing into him, causing them both to fall into the sand. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here," Joey answered, laughing and holding up the whistle.

"You're a _lifeguard?_"

"Yep. Saw you and your brother sit down. When I saw you swimming I knew I'd have to come say hello." Jason kneeled down beside where they were laying in the sand. "This is my roommate Jason. He works at the fancy hotel on the corner."

"Seto and I are staying there!"

"Figures," Joey said with a grin, pushing Mokuba off him and standing. "How long are you guys going to be here?"

"Two days before school starts."

"I go back the same day."

"Have you been here all summer?" Mokuba asked. "What about Yugi and Tristan?"

Joey smiled. "I have been. I haven't seen them since I left, but we talk every other day and write lots of emails. They should be waiting for me when I get home. We'll probably have a party, you can come with us."

Jason gave Joey a glare. "Can we not talk about you leaving, please?"

Joey gasped dramatically. He reached over and pulled Jason to him, crushing the other teen to his chest. "Oh no! What will Jason do? He'll have to go back to how he was before I was here!"

"Yeah, alone and un-" Joey smacked a hand over Jason's mouth. That glint in Jason's eye meant he was going to say something completely inappropriate.

"Save it, Jay. Mokuba, you wanna learn how to swim?"

It was literally an hour later before his brother, the mutt, and that Jason guy started to walk up from the beach. Seto knew, because he had been counting. Mokuba ran the last few feet, jumping onto the blanket beside Seto.

"Seto, did you see? Did you see me swim?"

He couldn't help it. With those big gray eyes staring up at him, he felt himself cave. He smiled down at his brother; proud that Mokuba had managed to learn one of the few things he never had. "Yes, I saw."

Mokuba grinned. "Joey said he would teach me more when we go to the pool, because there's no waves there."

Seto glanced up at Joey, but the blonde was busy trying to smack Jason with his towel. Jason easily jumped away from every attempt, just as Joey carefully calculated enough time to let him get away.

Jason reached out and grabbed the towel, ripping it out of Joey's hands. The blonde backed away as Jason slowly advanced, towel in hand. With one quick movement, Jason threw the towel over Joey's hair and started to dry it, causing Joey to burst into giggles.

"You promised to come to lunch with me, Joe."

Joey pulled the towel off his face onto his head, creating something like a bonnet with it. He gave Jason his best pout. "Can they come with us? Pwease Jay?"

Jason gave a long suffering sigh. "I suppose so. But you owe me." Joey grinned, leaning foreword and whispering into Jason's ear. The red head smiled, his cheeks tingeing to match his hair.

"Mokuba, Kaiba, do you wanna come get some lunch with us? My treat."

"Seto, can we?"

He wanted to say no. He was going to say no, he really was. But he found he was nodding before he had a chance to speak.

"YES!" Mokuba shouted, jumping up. He threw his towel into the bag, following it with the sunscreen laying on the blanket. Seto grabbed his shirt before Mokuba could swipe it, and quickly pulled it on.

Mokuba and Jason were chatting, their conversation washing over Seto in a way that he didn't have to listen but would remember it later; a useful talent one acquired when sitting through years of boring board meetings. His attention was on Joey, who was across the room talking to the girl behind the counter.

_'No, flirting with her.'_

Now he was slightly confused. Because he had assumed by the way that they were acting that Jason and Joey had something going on between them. He watched as the red headed girl giggled and smacked Joey lightly. The mutt smiled audaciously, kissed her cheek before accepting their food, and turned. Seto focused instantly on the window.

"Jay, your sis says the cat needs to stay at our place for the weekend," Joey said, sliding the tray onto the table.

Jason glared over at the counter his sister stood behind. "Why?"

"Something about her new boyfriend being allergic. Everybody, dig in."

_'Joey was flirting with Jason's sister? She has a boyfriend. They must have been playing…' _

Seto stopped staring at the boardwalk outside long enough to look down. Before them sat a large tray of fries and nachos, covered in orange cheese, chili, and onions. He felt his stomach turn at the sight. Deciding to eat later, he turned his attention back to the window. He felt almost out of place here because he was wearing a shirt while none of the other three were.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Jason, who was across from him, watching him intently. Joey, who was next to Jason, elbowed him softly, and whispered something to him Seto couldn't catch. "Not hungry, Kaiba?" Joey asked, his tone polite. Perhaps it was for Mokuba's benefit.

Seto cast another long-suffering look at the nacho-fry mixture.

"Seto's a picky eater," Mokuba replied, shoving several fries in his mouth.

"Obviously not a trait you share," Jason observed with a grin.

"Get some regular fries, Seto," Mokuba advised.

"I'll eat later," Seto said, trying not to sound short tempered.

"No you won't. You never do."

"Hey boys, everything okay here?" Seto looked up. It was the waitress that Joey had been talking to. Jason's sister.

"We're fine, Sarah. This is Mokuba and Seto Kaiba. They're from my home town."

Sarah smiled at them, her attention mostly on Mokuba. "It's nice to meet you."

Seto watched, in something akin to amusement, as his brother blushed and grew suddenly very quiet. Sarah winked at him, and Mokuba suddenly found his soda straw very interesting.

"Sarah," Joey warned with a grin, while Jason attempted to hide his snickers behind a few fries. "Bring us an order of naked fries, would you?"

"Sure thing. Be right back." Her red hair swinging, (Seto could see the family resemblance now) she turned and headed back to the kitchen. It took only a moment, and she handed the small cardboard container to Joey, who passed it to Seto. The brunette was spared having to express gratitude when the waitress spoke again.

"Isn't it a little late for you guys to be here? Are you off tonight, Jason?"

"No," he started, looking down at his watch. "Shit. Joe, I got to get going if I'm gonna shower before work."

Joey was already sliding out of the booth so Jason could get out. "I'll be right back." Mokuba nodded. Seto watched as they both walked towards the door. They were too far away to hear, but Jason nodded at something Joey said. Then Jason leaned in and caught Joey's lips in a quick kiss, before turning and nearly running out the door.

Joey turned before Seto averted his gaze. The blonde blushed slightly, knowing that he had been seen. He still walked over, and sat back down as if nothing had happened.

"Hey Mokuba, I'll probably be hanging around your pool tonight, if you want more lessons."

"You will be? Why?"

"Jay doesn't get off until later. I usually wait for him somewhere in the hotel, the pool or sometimes downstairs on the treadmill. I wanted to be a lifeguard because it wasn't a sit on your butt job. But as it turns out, unless something goes wrong, it is a sit on your butt job."

Seto wanted to make some kind of comment about foresight, but restrained himself. "Are we doing anything tonight, Seto?" Mokuba asked, turning his puppy eyes on his brother.

He would have loved to say they were, but they weren't, so he shook his head. "Good. I want to be able to swim really well before we go home." Mokuba grinned, thrilled with the challenging goal he had set himself.

Joey smiled. It would have been an understatement to say this situation had the capability of becoming awkward if not handled correctly. Kaiba's silence was starting to bother him though. "Do you swim, Kaiba?"

"Never learned how," Seto answered, chewing primly on a fry.

"Would you like to?"

He never rushed into giving an answer to anybody's questions. "I'll think about it," he said slowly.

Joey nodded, and considered that plenty of conversation with the elder of the Kaibas. "So, what do you think of Jay, Mokuba?"

"He's nice," Mokuba said with a mischievous grin. "He's your boyfriend, right?"

Seto noted that this time, Joey didn't blush. He wondered if it was because knowing was different than seeing, or if it was because Mokuba was different from himself.

"You could say that."

_'What kind of answer is that?' _Seto thought. Obviously one Mokuba accepted.

"Are you going to bring him back to meet everybody else?"

Joey shrugged. "I don't know. He's out of school, so I could if I wanted to. Depends on how things work out after I leave."

Mokuba nodded again. Seto was irritated that his brother was just accepting these half answers without digging for the rest of the truth. He glared down at his fries, suddenly remembered he wasn't eating them, and started to again.

"How'd you meet him?"

Joey grinned. "Like I said, we're room mates. He moved down here, needed somebody to help him pay for the apartment until he got on his feet. I needed a place for the summer. But the apartment's very small, so we became close fast." Joey's eyes flickered to Seto for the briefest of moments, as if to check that the conversation with Mokuba was still approved of.

"What does he do at the hotel?" Mokuba asked. Seto found himself bored. Who cared? In a week and a half they'd never have to see Jason again.

"He's a waiter, heading to become a chef. It runs in their family."

"And, his sister?" Mokuba continued, and Seto had to restrain himself from smiling at his sibling's blush.

"Sarah's the reason he moved out here. They're twins. She got lucky, chanced into owning this place. They thought it was just going to be a summer job. When they realized she was going to stay, Jay had to move here. They don't like to be apart. And a little of friendly advice, kiddo. She's nine years older than you."

Mokuba blushed harder, and Seto wasn't sure if he should be pissed at Joey for saying it, or amused at Mokuba for taking it so badly, even when he had to already know that.

"But, Jay and Sarah do have a younger sister." Joey grinned. "Maybe I should track down her phone number for you. Like red heads, do you?"

Mokuba glanced at his brother, as if wishing Seto wasn't there, and nodded minutely. Joey winked and grinned. "Me too," he whispered.

Seto was a little insulted, that his brother felt he could discuss that with Joey, but not with him. He reached to pick up another fry, and realized with a start he had finished them.

"Ready Seto? Can we go? I want to swim some more!"

Seto nodded. Joey grinned, tossing a few wet dollars on the table before leading the way out. He caught Sarah half way out, wrapping an arm around her waist, and kissing her cheek. "Bring her over tomorrow morning, and bring some kitty chow. I don't think we have any left."

She nodded, and gave Mokuba a warm smile before disappearing back into the kitchen. The three teens started the walk towards the large hotel.

"So why didn't you ever learn to swim, Mokuba? Don't you guys have a huge pool?"

"My last instructor tried to drown me. Seto wouldn't hire anybody after that. He didn't trust anybody else with my safety."

"He tried to _drown_ you? Why?"

Mokuba shrugged. "I don't remember. Something to do with Kaiba Corp. I forget what his specific reason was though."

Joey put a hand on Mokuba's shoulder. "How many people have tried to kill you, kiddo?"

Mokuba snorted. "Oh, countless have _tried_. Very few ever got anywhere close. That was the only time I really died, but Seto had me breathing again within seconds."

Joey climbed up on the knee high ledge that lined the walk, his arms out to balance himself. "That's awful. Do you get scared?"

"Not usually," Mokuba answered truthfully, with a small proud smile.

"Well I'm impressed, kiddo. Even with how much I love swimming, if I nearly died drowning, I doubt I'd have the guts to get in the water again."

Somehow that didn't add up in Seto's mind. "I think you underestimate yourself," he commented.

Joey nearly fell off the wall, then stopped short. "Was that a compliment, Kaiba?"

Seto scoffed. "Merely an observation."

Joey jumped down and put a hand on Mokuba's shoulder. "So, do you trust me to teach you?"

Mokuba grinned. "You wouldn't benefit from trying to kill me."

"True, but even if I did, trust me?"

Mokuba laughed. "Joey, I doubt there is a person who couldn't trust you."

Joey grinned and grabbed Mokuba around the waist and lifted him into the air. "Joey! What are you doing? Put me down!"

"Why?"

Seto stared. He had no idea that Joey was that strong. The blonde held him in he air, without even seeming to notice that the "kiddo" he was carrying was an eleven year old over a hundred pounds

"You can't carry me without hurting yourself!"

"Is that a challenge?"

"What? No, Joey!" Mokuba exclaimed through giggles.

Seto watched, with no small amount of jealousy, as Joey proceeded to carry his younger brother the rest of the way back to the hotel. Joey wasn't even particularly buff. But in his position slightly behind them and Joey with his shirt still off, Seto could watch every muscle in Joey's back and arms work. It was more desirable than being buff, to be that strong without it being completely obvious. Perhaps he really should pay more attention to his body. He knew he couldn't lift Mokuba into the air.

Mokuba laughed at his own embarrassment the whole way. This too made Seto jealous. This was supposed to be his vacation with his little brother. Not with his little brother and the mutt.

Joey sat Mokuba down in front of the door. "Told you I could do it."

Mokuba turned around and was about to comment, but his mouth clamped shut.

All the sudden Joey was lifted into the air, then tossed over his captor's shoulder. "Who the-" Joey cut off. "Wait a minute, I know that ass, Jason put me down."

Rather than comply, Jason swung Joey back down to hold him bridal style. The red head looked showered and clean in his black uniform, though his hair was still wet. "I can do it too. You shouldn't pick on the kid like that."

"Ah, Mokuba can take it." Using Jason's shoulder as a brace, Joey jumped down. "Tie?" he asked.

Jason unwrapped the black garment from his wrist and handed it to Joey, who proceeded to tie Jason's tie. Seto watched the overly domestic gesture in disgust. What man couldn't tie his own damn tie? Joey patted Jason's chest affectionately. "Have a good day at work, dear."

"Yes, honey." He bent down and kissed Joey's cheek. "You'll be at the pool?" Joey nodded. "Alright, but when I get off, we're going home." He bent down, and whispered something in Joey's ear that made the blonde grin.

"Promise?" Joey asked.

"Promise," Jason agreed with a smirk. He kissed Joey's cheek one last time before running around toward the back entrance of the hotel.

With a grin seemingly glued to his face, Joey turned back to Mokuba. The teen's gray eyes were laughing. Joey's grin only widened as he walked inside.

"I'm going to take the bag upstairs," Seto remarked, noticing they were already heading in the direction of the pool.

"Oh! I'll come with you. I'll see you in a minute, Joey!"

The blonde nodded and continued to the pool, waving to the man behind the desk he seemed to know. Seto assumed they'd seen quite a bit of Joey this summer.

On the elevator, while his brother hummed cheerfully, Seto spared a moment to think about Joey and Jason's relationship. He prided himself in being good at reading people and evaluating them. Something about Jason seemed off to him. Or at least, the way Jason was around Joey. Something about the pair was unconventional. There were no sweet confessions of love, no meaningful glances, no deep connections. Perhaps that was what Joey had meant from his comment of "you could say that". Jason wasn't really his boyfriend at all. It only made the way they acted with each other that much more disgusting if it was meaningless. He glared at the seventh elevator button.

When Seto and Mokuba reached the pool, they could hear the light splashing that meant Joey was already in the water. Getting closer it was obvious he was swimming laps. Seto was slightly impressed, though he admitted it only to himself, how fast Joey crossed the length of the pool. When he reached the wall, somehow knowing where it was before he hit it, he would dive under, spin, and push off in the other direction.

Mokuba wadded into the shallow end; Seto found a chair. There were other people around, adults in the hot tubs and mothers with children in the kiddy pool, but the large pool was empty, save Joey.

Joey didn't stop his laps. Seto counted twenty three before Joey started teaching Mokuba and he could only estimate that the mutt had done about the same amount before they got there. Nobody liked a show off. But he had a feeling that this was a ritual, not a special performance for their benefit, which only made it that much more disgusting.

He watched Joey and Mokuba interact. Under normal circumstances he doubted Joey would make a good teacher. He didn't have enough patience with incompetence, a trait Seto grudgingly admitted he shared. But Mokuba understood Joey's personality, and knew what to say and how to react to keep the blonde from becoming frustrated. Seto took some pride in his brother's abilities to read people.

"Joey! Can you take a call? It's Sarah, and Jason's training the new kid, he can't take it."

Seto looked up to see one of the restaurant chefs. He wondered how many people here were on a first name basis with Joey.

"Yeah." Joey used the side of the pool to lift him clean out of the water and Seto was once more impressed with his strength. Joey took the phone, trying not to get it wet, and held it a inch away from his wet head. "Sarah?"

He was quiet for a moment, but Seto wasn't watching. Mokuba was alone in the pool and though Joey had him grab the side before he got out, he didn't want to take his eyes off his brother, lest he slip.

"Alright. Okay I'll let him know. Why didn't you beep him? Well he should have it on him. Yeah I'll ask him later. It might not be working again. Okay love, stop by tomorrow with Sabrina. No, it doesn't matter, just let yourself in if we're not there. Love you too cutie. Bye."

Seto found himself growling in the back of his throat. He hadn't asked to become this informed of the blonde's life. All he wanted was to spend a week with his little brother and get enough color that he wasn't looking at his veins anymore. The mutt was like a stain; he just wouldn't go away.

He stopped noticing the time pass. His mind was filled with unhappy thoughts. About Joey, his vacation, work, Jason, sand, the little time he ever got with Mokuba. When his brother called out to him he snapped out of it, and wondered how long he'd spent in his self pity.

"Do you want to try, Seto? It's fun! We could swim together at home!"

Seto let out a sigh. Well, perhaps, even if they didn't get much time together here, it could lead to more time at home. And if Joey stayed in that kind of shape from just swimming laps, then it could be beneficial to him as well. He stood and walked over slowly, not sure who was more surprised, Joey, Mokuba, or himself.

He swam over to them. He wasn't completely ignorant in the water. He did know how to stay up and how to move. But he wasn't exactly graceful about it. He grabbed the edge and held tight, trying not to sound out of breath.

"What do you want to learn?" Joey asked, his voice skeptical. Seto knew this wasn't going to be good. Joey had no patience with incompetence, Seto had no patience with Joey. This had no possible good ending.

"Let's teach him the dead man float! That's the most fun!"

Joey tried to smile at Mokuba but Seto's presence seemed to make him nervous. "Is that okay with you?"

Seto nodded, using his hands to move down where the water was shallow and he could stand and still breathe. Mokuba and Joey followed. Seto found himself nervous as his brother crawled out of the pool to sit on the side and watch. He wasn't used to not knowing how to do something.

"Okay, uh, just lean backward and float."

"I'll sink," Seto said before his brain scolded him. He knew technically he would float, a very small percentage of the population actually sunk in water.

"Here, just…" Joey found he didn't communicate well with Kaiba. He moved closer and put his hand on the brunette's back. "Lean back." Short, quick instructions.

Seto almost refused just because he hated to follow orders. He resisted the urge, and slowly leaned backwards. Joey's other hand came to rest under his bottom, and he nearly shouted in surprise. The blonde was lifting his lower half out of the water. For a split second he feared Joey would flip him, but he kept his face stolid and emotions masked, refusing to admit fear.

"Okay, hold your body like this. Keep your back straight. I'm gonna let go now, okay?"

Seto forced himself to nod, despite the impractical voice in his head shouting he would sink like a rock. Joey's hands left and for a moment he held perfectly still. Then he thought he felt himself sink and panicked. He began to flail, trying to stay afloat, and instantly Joey's hands were under him again.

He tried not to blush and could only pray he managed. Joey said nothing. Seto flattened his body again, preparing to float. If he went under, Joey would lift him back up. He just had to trust the stupid mutt and hold still.

"Ready?" was all Joey asked. Seto closed his eyes and nodded, holding his breath just in case. Joey's hands left slower this time. Seto felt himself start to sink but Joey's hands were still there. Then they left, and he didn't move. He kept himself very still, but he didn't sink. Slowly he started to breath again, and let his arms float away from his sides.

"You did it Seto!" Mokuba shouted. "It took me a lot longer to get it! Isn't it cool? If you move your arms and legs you can float around."

First glancing to check Joey was still close, Seto began to move experimentally, and found it didn't cause him to go under. He stared at the ceiling, using his legs to move. Suddenly Joey's hand was under his bottom again, pushing it upward to keep Seto's body parallel with the water. Seto realized his mistake and stiffened his lower back to keep his bottom from sinking.

In this way, they continued. Joey spoke as little as possible. Instead he would instruct Seto through demonstration or physically correcting him. Seto's determination not to make the same mistake twice led him to be a fast learner. He knew that it was communicating through touch rather than words that allowed them, for this one time, to get along.

Seto wasn't sure where he went wrong. He caught a mouthful of water and panicked. Joey grabbed him, holding him above the water's surface. Seto held gratefully to Joey's arm, trying to get his breathing back in order. He glanced down as his coughing receded, and saw his arm on Joey's.

He hadn't gotten any sun in his first short stay on the beach. You could still see the veins all through his hands and all the way up the underside of his forearm. Joey's upper arm was bronze. Brown, even. An even golden color all the way up to his shoulder, neck, and down his chest. Seto looked sickly in comparison. He looked like he came from a different part of the world rather than a different part of town.

Suddenly it hit him. They were from different worlds. That was why hearing about the little details in Joey's life, his job, his friends, his boyfriend's sister's cat Sabrina, made him want to scream. All of it was from a world he didn't belong in, a world that wanted nothing to do with him.

"I'm done," he said through his coughing, angry at himself for swallowing the disgusting germ infused water. "Teach Mokuba."

He grabbed a towel and sat back in his chair, without looking at Joey's face or Mokuba's. He threw the towel over his head in a semblance of drying it but in truth he was hiding. He would have left, but he didn't want to leave his brother. He was so stupid. Who was he kidding? Joey was from another world. They would never be able to be friends, let alone something more.

He had no idea when he had started wishing they could be. He'd been lying to himself and he'd just let himself realize he wanted it only to realize he couldn't have it. He didn't know why he'd even considered it. He didn't know how it had started or how he had managed to hide it even from himself. Every feeling, every instinct, carefully explained and reasoned away.

He'd hated Jason because he'd been flirting with Joey, not because Jason was rude. He'd been mad at Joey for running to Mokuba without a word for him, not for being rude. He'd been jealous that Joey gave his attention all to Mokuba, not that Mokuba was giving his attention to Joey. The way Jason and Joey interacted didn't disgust him, it enticed him. He wasn't jealous of Joey's strength, he was appreciative of it. He'd been thrilled to see Joey, not shocked, not angry.

What was wrong with him?

"Seto are you okay?"

Was he? Not really. He wanted to be a part of a world he'd been denied. A world where there was a cat named Sabrina and sometimes the new boyfriend was allergic to it. A world where your twin brother would pick up his life and move it to be near you. A world where sometimes you had to take a room mate just to make rent. A world where your lover could tie your tie for you. Where it was okay to get covered in sand. And sometimes your beeper didn't work. It was a world that he'd never been a part of, the real one. He'd lived in a world of technology, knowledge, and work. For as long as he could remember, he'd been living in a world where emotion was frowned upon and outside ties nearly impossible. Where living was an annoying necessity rather than a benefit or privilege.

"Seto?"

"I'm fine, Mokuba." Seto snapped out of it. Philosophical bullshit. He was fine. He just couldn't swim. That was all.

He pulled the towel down and looked over. Joey was already back to teaching Mokuba. Okay, so maybe that wasn't quite all. He couldn't under analyze this any more than he could over analyze it. He _did_ want Joey, and he _had_ been hiding the fact from himself. But that was it. It wasn't a big deal. If he could hide it from himself it should be no problem hiding it from Joey and everybody else. Eventually it would go away.

He laid back and shut his eyes so he didn't have to watch.

It'd been at least a few more hours. Seto wasn't quite sure, because he had dozed off. It was hard to admit to himself that he trusted Joey enough with his brother's life that he'd fallen asleep. He'd been death on Mokuba getting into the water since that bastard had pushed him under. It'd been one of the worst days of his life, and one of the scariest moments.

The pool room was empty besides them now. Joey and Mokuba weren't really swimming anymore, and Seto could tell from where he sat it was because Mokuba was tired. They were sitting on the pool steps, talking together like best friends. When the jealousy hit again Seto didn't try to pretend it was Mokuba's friendship he craved. He already had that.

There were footsteps approaching, in shoes, not the normal pool bare feet. Jason walked around the corner. Seto was nearly disgusted by the way Joey lit up when he saw him.

"Hey, Mokuba, I'm out of here. I'll see you tomorrow right?"

Mokuba nodded, climbing out of the pool and heading toward Seto and the towel. While Mokuba dried, Seto watched Joey out of the corner of his eye. Jason had grabbed a towel off the pile and held it open. The gesture was once again sickeningly domestic as Jason wrapped Joey in the towel and kissed his forehead.

"How was work?"

"Busy. Mike said you took a call from Sarah for me?"

"Yeah. She wanted to let you know your mom called her, and she'll be down on Saturday. So we've gotta get the apartment clean."

Jason groaned, holding the wet Joey against him. "I was hoping she'd wait until you were home before she came back."

"Don't worry Jay, I have the speech memorized. _No, ma'am, I assure you your son and I have a completely platonic relationship. No, ma'am, we do not share a bed. No, ma'am, those are not cum stains on the couch._"

"Joe!" Jason warned, and Joey jerked around to make sure that Mokuba and Seto hadn't heard them. Seto certainly had, though he pretended differently. Mokuba seemed too wrapped up with destroying all the water in his hair by means of vigorous towel beating.

Relieved, Joey giggled and leaned against Jason. "We better get outta here, Jay, or I might jump you in front of the kid and Kaiba would probably kill me."

"Do you want me to carry you?" Jason asked, as he was supporting most of the blonde's weight.

Joey giggled. "Save your energy, sexy, you're gonna need it, the second we walk in the door."

"Platonic my ass, Joe."

"Shut up and take me home."

The rest of their conversation was lost to Seto despite how hard he strained to hear them.

Mokuba pulled the towel off his head, glanced to make sure Joey and Jason were gone, then turned to his brother. "They're kinda cute, aren't they?"

Seto looked skeptical. "That's one word for it I suppose."

Mokuba grabbed all their stuff. "Is there something wrong, Seto?" Seto shook his head, and, taking his brother's hand, led him back up to the room.

Jason fumbled with the key as Joey covered his jaw with kisses. With the door open he nearly had to drag Joey inside.

"Joe," he said with a laugh. "Joe, come on, I'm starving."

Joey paused. "But you promised to bottom to me and I want you now."

Jason kissed Joey soundly on the lips. He smiled, staring into Joey's warm honey eyes. "If you want me, you can have me, just promise to feed me when you're done with me."

"If you have enough energy to move when I'm done with you, I'll make you a five star meal."

"Couch, bed or floor?" Jason asked, his blue eyes sparkling bright.

"Bed," Joey answered, pushing Jason into the bedroom. There was only one in the apartment, which was partially how Jason and Joey had hooked up.

Joey had Jason's tie undone before they hit the bed, and had already started on the long row of tiny buttons. "It's hard, Jay, not being able to touch you all day long," Joey said, running his hands across Jason's freshly exposed chest.

Jay smiled. "That'll teach you to give somebody besides me your attention. What are you going to do when you go home?"

Joey kissed the redhead soundly before answering. "Go to school, work, turn celibate."

(Ykarzel: There's a really hot lemon right here. You can find it on adultfanfiction. Sadly, this site believes in censors, and once again free speech got its dick cut off.)

"What?" Seto barked grumpily into the phone that had just succeeded in waking him from a very pleasant, dreamless sleep. The office had been instructed to call him only if it was a complete emergency.

Which it was, of course. And it of course couldn't wait. And it of course had to be dealt with by him personally.

"I'll be back in a few hours. Don't do _anything_ until I get there, understand?"

Mokuba was not going to be happy. He blinked, and even half asleep his mind was formulating a plan. Mokuba could stay here with Joey. That way he'd be back before nightfall, and his brother wouldn't miss one of his days in the sun. The thought made him feel a little better, but he was still pissed. He showered and dressed, but let his brother sleep.

When he reached the front desk, he knew the receptionist could tell he was pissed, and used to his advantage.

"There's an emergency that requires my immediate attention. I need the address of a waiter that works here by the name of Jason." That information would of course be classified, but his voice and his stance demanded obedience, and she simply nodded and hit a few buttons on her computer.

"Ah, which Jason, sir?"

Shit, that he hadn't thought of. "I don't know his last name," he admitted. "But his roommate is the one I actually need. His name is Joseph Wheeler."

The girl giggled. "Oh them! Joey and Jay are right down the road. Go out behind the hotel and turn left, two buildings down is their place. It's like a nasty pink color. They're in room thirty two."

"Thank you," he said, managing to hide his disgust. Was there a person in this building that didn't know them?

At the lack of response, Seto pushed the doorbell a second time. That had the desired effect, as there was a large bang from inside followed by a lot of noises Seto couldn't place.

"Coming Sarah!" he heard Joey's voice.

At the same time Seto realized that they thought he was Jason's sister, Joey opened the door.

"Hey- oh!" he exclaimed. For a moment, all either of them could do was stare. Joey, because the last person he expected was standing on his doorstep. Seto, because Joey was standing in front of him in nothing but his boxers. This wouldn't have been news, (Seto had seen him all day in his suit) if Joey's appearance didn't scream the fact that he'd been having sex.

"You know, Sarah, when Joey said anytime tomorrow, he didn't mean at the crack of dawn," Jason shouted, coming up to stand behind Joey. His eyes went wide when he spotted Seto, and he ducked behind Joey because, as Seto had noted in the brief moment, he wasn't wearing anything. The one small part of Seto's mind that still thought that perhaps they weren't sleeping with each other was now convinced otherwise. The death of that hope was followed by a wave of disappointment that he ignored.

"Is something wrong, Kaiba?" Joey asked when he found his voice. He'd been embarrassed that Kaiba had seen Jason kiss him. That was nothing compared to this. Sarah had walked in on them doing all kind of things, and he wasn't shy in front of any of his friends. Even Mokuba wouldn't have been a big deal. But Kaiba was very different.

"I need to ask a favor," Seto said, gluing his eyes to Joey's honey orbs because he didn't trust himself not to stare. A small part of him was disappointed he didn't get a better look at Jason, so he would know what he was up against. Reason brutally killed that small part. There was no competition; he wasn't trying.

"What is it?" Joey asked, trying to ignore how exposed he felt. From an observer's view point, he supposed this situation would be pretty funny.

"I need to go back to the office. There's a problem that requires me personally. I was hoping that you would be willing to watch Mokuba for the day."

Joey blinked, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with a fist. "Um, yeah. I'm working today." Before Seto couldn't respond Joey turned to look behind him. "Jay? Jay go get something on and get Em on the phone for me will you? See if you can sweet talk her into covering for me today."

Jason darted away from the door. Seto had just enough time to noticed that even his backside was tan. He wondered how.

"Where is he?"

Seto blinked and focused back on Joey. "He's still asleep. I'll give you the key to the room."

Joey nodded absently, and rubbed some more of the sleep out of his eyes. "We're gonna have to shower and get dressed. Is he gonna freak out if he wakes up by himself?"

Seto shook his head and glanced at his watch. "He should be asleep for the next two hours."

"When will you be back?"

"Midnight at the latest."

Joey blinked. "You're gonna drive all the way down there and back tonight?" Seto nodded and Joey shook his head. "The kid can stay with us if you want. Then you could drive back up tomorrow, after you've slept."

"If I feel that's necessary I'll call."

Joey nodded, and then looked behind him again. "Jay are you decent?" Receiving an affirmative, Joey opened the door the rest of the way. "Come on in. Jay will have coffee started if you want some. As soon as he gets a hold of Emily I'll be able to tell you for sure."

Joey walked away and through another door, which Seto assumed was the bedroom. He walked past a well worn couch, resisting the urge to search for any of the stains Joey had referred to, and into the kitchenette. Jason sat at the table, big enough only for two, clad now in a pair of sweat pants, with the phone against his ear.

Seto took the empty chair. Jason motioned to the coffee pot on the counter and Seto shook his head to decline. He took a moment to look around. They had a lot of cleaning to do if they wanted this place respectable in two days.

"Emily, I know you're there. It's Jason. Wake up sleepy head." Seto's attention was drawn back to the couch. He wondered if it really was stained. "Emily. Pick up Emily. I'll make it worth your while. Good morning Emily!"

The door to the bedroom opened and Joey came out, now clad also in sweat pants. They hung so low that Seto could see his hip bones protruding. Jason covered the phone with his palm. "Feed me!" he pleaded. Joey smirked at him then nodded walking over to pour himself a cup of coffee

"Oh, I'm on speaker phone! You are? What's his name? Is he good looking? Hello Adam. Can I have your phone number?" Even across the table Seto could hear a female laugh on the other side of the phone. "True, Joe does keep me pretty busy, but you know, he's leaving me in a few days." Joey smacked Jason on the top of the head as he crossed the kitchen to sit on the counter by the sink. Jason cringed.

"Right, Em, the reason I called, is Joe and I need you to cover for him this morning. You can? Great!" He turned and looked at Joey. "Can you take double shift on Saturday?"

Joey nodded enthusiastically. "That's when your mother's coming. Perfect if I'm not here for her to pick at."

"That'd be fine Em. Thanks a lot, we owe you big time. Kiss Adam once for me. See you soon." He hung the phone up with a beep. "Alright, it's set," he told them, handing the phone behind him to Joey who replaced it on the wall.

Seto stood up. Joey took a swig of his coffee before jumping down off of the counter. He led the way out to the door, and opened it for Seto. "We'll see you either later tonight or tomorrow morning, right?"

Seto nodded and paused. "Thanks," he said with difficulty. "This will mean a lot to Mokuba." He handed Joey the key to their apartment.

"It's no problem. It's lucky that we were here to help. See ya Kaiba."

Mokuba blinked his eyes open to see his brother's eyes staring straight at him. Except Seto didn't have flaming red hair. He blinked a few more times. "Jason?"

"He's awake Joe! He's awake!"

"Sheesh, Jay, don't scare the shit out of him." Joey pushed Jason off and sat down on the end of Mokuba's bed. Mokuba was sitting up. "Good morning, Mokuba."

"What are you guys doing here?" the sleepy-eyed teen asked.

"Your brother had to take care of an emergency at the office. He didn't want to take you with him, so he asked me and Jay to watch over you."

"Really?" Mokuba visibly brightened. "We usually have to go home. I can't believe he actually asked you to do that. He must really like you, Joey. He never asks anybody to do anything for him."

Joey ruffled Mokuba's hair. "Or he just really wants you to have a good time."

"Joe! I'm _starving_ and you promised to feed me!"

Joey rolled his eyes. "Not my fault you passed out Jay." He smiled at Mokuba. "What do you say we go feed him, then we'll hit the beach? Then once we've gotten you a few shades darker, we'll head up the boardwalk. I know a guy that lets us cut in line for the rollercoasters."

"Yeah!"

"Em!" Jason called, climbing up her chair the same way he had done to Joey's the day before.

"Jason? Why am I covering for you two if you're on the beach?"

"I'm babysitting," Joey said, picking Mokuba up, much to the boy's embarrassment, and holding him up for Emily to see.

Emily laughed. "Put him down, Joey, before you hurt yourself. Alright, get away from me before you distract me."

Mokuba wasted no time. The second Joey sat him down he took off toward the waves. He laughed when the oncoming wave splashed his legs.

"Em?"

"You don't have to ask, I'll keep an extra eye on him."

"Thanks," Joey said gratefully, following Jason over to where he had already spread out a towel in the sand. He spread out his own right beside him, and laid down, pillowing his head on his arms. Due to Kaiba, they'd both waken two full hours early, and after last night both were feeling it.

"It's not fair that you're only here for a few more days and I'm sharing you," Jason said, through his eyes were shut and his words were slightly slurred from the way his cheek was pressed against his wrist.

Joey sighed. "I'm sorry Jay. You're right. I haven't been giving you enough attention."

"I didn't mean it that way," Jason said, sitting up enough to prop himself on his elbows. He glanced down at the ocean where he could see Mokuba, then looked over at Joey. "I do like him a lot. He's a great kid. I guess I'm just a little bit jealous. He gets to live with you, he'll be just a few minutes away. But I won't."

Joey rolled over, pressing his back against Jason's side. "It's not like you're never going to see me again."

"It's not?" Jason asked, turning also so that Joey was pressed more against his stomach.

"Don't be stupid Jay. I'm only a few hours away. During the winter when business is slow at the hotel you can come visit me. And I might even come back next summer if I don't find a better job. Besides, you don't need me anymore. Once you get your replacement trained, you'll be moving into the kitchen and doing what your good at. Your pay will double and making rent on your own won't be a problem."

Jason threw an arm around Joey's side and pressed his face into the blonde's shoulder. "You're good for more than half the rent, Joe." Discreetly, he traced a line up Joey's neck with his tongue.

Joey snickered and reached back to push Jason's head away. "I'm sure you'll find somebody to replace me."

"Nobody could ever replace you, Joey," Jason said, his voice taking on a dreamy tone. He wasn't the least bit deterred by Joey's push, and buried his face this time into Joey's hair.

"Don't feed me bull shit, Jay."

"Actually, it seems my little student has taken quite a liking to his teacher."

Joey pulled away and turned around to face Jason, shocked. "That little kid, Ashton? Wouldn't that be like robbing the cradle?"

The red head glared. "I'll have you know he's a year older than you are."

Joey's amber eyes widened with genuine surprise. "_Really?_Man he doesn't look it. Well he'd make a pretty little pet, that's for sure."

Jason shook his head. "No, I don't think it would be like that. He's not that kind of guy. He's too sensitive. He won't do anything his heart's not into."

Joey's eyes narrowed. "And you're still considering him. And I know you would never lead somebody on. So that means _you're_ actually considering having a _real_ relationship, with love and commitment and loyalty and all that stuff?"

"Sounds crazy doesn't it? But I don't know, there's something about him. I mean, his crushing on me is damn annoying he gets flustered and drops stuff _all the time_. But, beyond that, in those few minutes that he forgets I'm there, I can see the real him. And I like what I see." Jason's voice had again acquired the dreamy tone, but it wasn't faux this time.

Joey's eyes were threatening to jump out of his head. "God, Jay, why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

Jason shrugged. "You're only here for a little while longer. I didn't want you getting any ideas that I had to suddenly be loyal to him or anything like that."

"Then why are you telling me now? We have nine days left."

Jason smirked deviously. "Because you can't hide anything from me Joe. I see the way you keep looking at that kid's brother as if you're a starving man and he's a piece of meat."

Joey stared at Jason for a long moment. Then his eyes narrowed almost threateningly. "Don't be stupid Jay." With that, he turned his head away and pillowed it again on his arm.

Jason was dumbfounded for a moment, then he grinned slyly. "I guess I was kinda off the mark there then? Well if _you_ don't want him, mind if I give him a try?"

"I doubt," Joey said harshly, "that Kaiba swings that way. But do what you want."

Jason chuckled silently to himself.

Joey pulled the door shut to Mokuba's bedroom with a small grin. It was a good deal past midnight, and Joey had agreed to allow the kid to stay up if he promised Joey the privilege of tucking him in. Mokuba had readily agreed, figuring his embarrassment was worth it. Joey had a tendency to treat him half his age but Mokuba was now used to that.

Jason was sitting primly on the edge of the couch in the greeting room of the Kaiba's suite. The place was huge. Both Mokuba and Kaiba had their own bedroom, there was a greeting room that the door opened into, a more private family room, and a small kitchen. Jason looked like he was afraid if he touched anything it would be forever marked.

Joey, on the other hand plopped down onto the couch as if he owned it, turning and using Jason's lap as a pillow. "God, I'm beat."

Jason grinned, and buried his hand into Joey's hair. Ecstasy rolled across Joey's face as the red head began to run his fingers through Joey's hair. He sighed contentedly while Jason chuckled at him. "You're so easy, Joe. All I have to do is pet you and you melt in my lap."

"Less talking, more petting," Joey said, catching Jason's eyes. They're gazes locked for a moment. Their "fight" from earlier today was forgotten, despite the fact Joey had been on edge for the rest of the day. "You have really beautiful eyes," Joey stated quietly.

"Careful Joe, people will start to think you're in love with me."

Joey reached up and stroked the side of Jason's face. "Just with your eyes."

Jason gave him a lopsided smile before bending as well as he could to plant a wet kiss on Joey's nose. The blonde cringed, reaching up to wipe it away. He was pacified, however, when Jason began to stroke his hair again. His eyes fell shut in bliss.

A few minutes later Joey was sound asleep. Jason continued to pet him because he knew if he should stop the action it would wake the blonde back up. And Jason had selfish reasons for wanting him well rested.

He heard the sound of the door handle a heartbeat before the door was opened. Kaiba walked in looking as tired if not more than Joey had been. He didn't quite start when he saw them, but he obviously wasn't expecting them to be there.

"I didn't mean for you to have to wait for me. He would have been fine alone here."

"Joe wouldn't hear of it," Jason said softly. "If you just give me a minute to wake him we'll be on our way."

Seto didn't reply but Jason wasn't paying him any attention. "Joe," he said a bit louder then normal speaking tones. "Time to wake up, Kaiba's gonna want his couch back."

"Kaiba can shove it," came Joey's sleep slurred reply. His eyes hadn't opened yet and there was no sign that he had any idea what he was talking about. Jason snorted before he could help it.

"Sorry," he said in Kaiba's general direction but didn't look at him because he was just managing to keep his laughter in toe and he didn't want to tax himself any more. "Joe, you gotta get up so we can go home."

Joey's voice returned clearly annoyed. "What are you talking about Jay?"

"Joe, _get up_," Jason pleaded.

"I _am_ up," Joey replied, opening his eyes. He stared at Jason for a moment, then his memory seemed to return. He sat up slowly, then spotted Kaiba. Jason was impressed that he didn't blush. "Hi," he said intelligently.

Kaiba didn't reply. Jason stood up and grabbed Joey by the shoulders. He wanted to get his friend out of here before he could embarrass himself any more. "We should go; Joe's asleep on his feet," Jason said by way of parting.

On the way to the door Kaiba called after them. "I don't suppose it would be appropriate for me to compensate you for your help?"

Joey pulled himself out of Jason's hands. "No, it wouldn't be. We did it as a favor." There was a challenge in Joey's voice. Jason wondered if this was the result of Joey's half asleep state or the fact that this was the first time he and Kaiba had been around each other without Mokuba near.

"I'm sure Mokuba appreciates it then."

"Not for him," Joey spat. "We love him, sure. But this was a favor for _you_ Kaiba. Somebody was _nice_ to you. Chew on that." His amber eyes blazing with something that Jason didn't understand, the blonde turned and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Which left Jason alone. "Um," he started, feeling the need to justify Joey's actions but not entirely sure of their cause himself. "I'm sorry about that, he's just," he faltered, because he wasn't exactly sure _what_ Joey was.

"Don't worry about it," Seto said, his voice calm and his eyes glued to the door that Joey had slammed. "That's the most normal thing he's done since we got here." Seto turned and headed for Mokuba's room, allowing Jason to see himself out.

Jason finally caught up to Joey at the apartment. He found his friend pacing the small area in front of the couch. His path was so small, however, that it was akin to walking in circles, or a dog chasing his tail. Sabrina sat on the couch watching him.

"I made an ass out of myself," Joey stated before Jason had a chance to say a word.

"He didn't seem bothered by it. He said it was normal."

"That's because I _always_ make an ass out of myself." Joey crossed the room to Jason and pressed their bodies together. Within heart beats he had Jason's lips caught in a desperate kiss. Joey obviously needed him. He wasn't sure why, but he wasn't going to deny him either. But the way Joey wouldn't meet his eyes became disconcerting.

Seto woke grudgingly because he sensed that his sibling was in the room. He'd gotten home late last night, and it had been later still before he'd fallen asleep. This actually seemed like a manageable hour compared to when Mokuba usually seemed to rise. Perhaps he had been up late last night too.

His eyes came open one at a time. He glanced over at Mokuba, who had his face pressed up against the glass door. As Seto was in the master bedroom, it was his room that had the doorway to the balcony that looked over the boardwalk and beach.

It only took a moment more for Seto to comprehend why Mokuba was still on _this_ side of the glass when he usually went outside to feel the morning air. Water streamed down the other side of the glass as the rain poured down.

"I'm sorry Mokuba," he grunted, sleep making his voice harsh. He would never have slept this late if he'd been at home where there was an alarm to set.

"What are we going to do?" his brother asked, coming away from the now smudged glass to sit beside Seto on his bed.

"We'll just have to stay inside."

"Can we invite Joey and Jason over?" Mokuba asked him, his eyes large and begging.

"Didn't you get enough of them yesterday?" Seto asked, his voice muffled by the pillow he was shoving his face in.

"Never! But thank you, Seto, for doing that for me."

"It's them you should thank," Seto answered, then grunted when Mokuba jumped on him and wrapped his smaller arms around his back in a hug.

"I love you big brother."

Seto turned his head to look at his brother who was still clinging to him. He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You want them to come over _that_ bad?"

"Joey left their phone number on the table so you don't have to show up on their doorstep this time," Mokuba answered with a grin that said he knew he'd already won.

Seto groaned as he pulled himself out of his warm bed. "You know Mokuba, one of these days I'm going to say no to you and you're going to die of shock." The floor was carpeted, but still felt cold to his feet. He stuck his toes into a pair of slippers and headed for the room where the phone number was located.

"By the time you manage to be able to do that, I'll be old enough to get whatever I want on my own," Mokuba replied. Seto spared a moment to thank fate that Mokuba had felt hardship deep and true in his young, impressionable years, and the fact that the kid was smart, or he'd be spoiled beyond help.

He dialed the phone number without thinking. It was only after the third ring that it occurred to him this might have been a conversation he should have planned out before it happened. He didn't have to do that often, his ability to act and react was a toned and developed skill, but special circumstances had brought him to do it before.

"Hello?" came a breathless voice, but Seto was still able to recognize it as Joey's.

"Hello," Seto responded, but only got the word half out before a burst of giggles interrupted him.

"Jay, Jay, stop, stop it I'm on the phone, Jay!" The last word came out as a type of squeal. It was followed by a series of giggles and snorts. "No, Jay, give it back!"

"Hello?" said a new voice, though Jason's voice sounded much deeper on the phone line than in person.

"I would like to speak to Joey please," Seto said calmly. Not that it mattered which of them he spoke to, but a deep part of him wanted to thwart Jason at every possible turn.

"Oh, right. It's for you Joe."

"You ass," Seto heard Joey say before he reclaimed the phone. "I'm really sorry about that."

"There's no need to be," Seto said patiently, holding in an exasperated sigh with years of practice.

"Kaiba!" This was followed by a lot of shuffling, some hushed arguing, and by what Seto thought was a door slamming. "What can I do for you?"

In his head, Seto could see Joey's face. He was caught too off guard to go into his hate-and-anger state, which meant he would still be naturally in his good natured Joey state. That is until he said something that would piss the blonde off, or remind him that he was supposed to be in his hate-and-anger state, or threaten him. But Seto needed him in his good natured personality right now.

"It's raining, and Mokuba wanted to know if you would be interested in coming over."

"Oh, well then why didn't he call?"

The question hit Seto hard. He knew Joey hadn't meant to insult him, he was innocent and honest, and really Seto wasn't insulted. But why hadn't Mokuba called? Seto had done it without thinking. He whipped around to see his brother's head peeking through the crack in the bedroom door. Realizing he'd been spotted, Mokuba paled. Seto's eyes narrowed. "Good question. I'll find out later."

"Oh, right. Is this just me, or me and Jay?" Joey asked hesitantly.

"I can't imagine Mokuba would mean to separate you," he answered, in what he hoped wasn't a colder tone than usual.

"Okay, well, we're kinda cleaning right now. Lemme ask." Seto heard a door open.

"Alright Joe, why when Mr. Millionaire calls, do you need to run into the bedroom and shut the door?" Whatever response Joey made to that wasn't verbal, though Seto would have given a lot to see it.

"Do you want to go hang with kiddo when we're done cleaning?"

"It's better than being here."

"We'll probably be done cleaning in about two hours," Joey said into the receiver.

"So expect us in three," Jay said, his voice louder which implied he was much closer.

Joey gave and undignified squeak, sputtered a goodbye and hung up with a loud click. Seto did likewise, excluding the squeak, trying not to glare at the phone too harshly. Calming his features, he turned to face his brother.

"Alright, Mokuba, what's going on?"

Mokuba tried to look innocent, but he knew he'd been caught. Now he had to play the hardest game of all; outwitting his brother. "What are you talking about big brother?"

"Some things just don't add up, and now I feel thick for letting you get away with them in the first place. First of all, you've always wanted to know how to swim, but not this badly. You've always been friends with Joey, but not this close. And, there's no reason that I just had to make that phone call."

Mokuba called up a blush on command, particularly proud of that skill and equally glad Seto didn't know he had it. "I just don't want to seem desperate. There's a chance that tomorrow when Jason's mom comes she'll bring his little sister with her. I saw her picture yesterday and I'd really like to meet her."

"Oh," Seto said, grinning. He walked over and ruffled Mokuba's head. "If that's all it is, Mokuba, you should have just told me. I might have helped." Mokuba grinned as Seto couldn't see. "But I won't help you unless you stop trying to set me up."

Mokuba nearly fell right over. He turned to stare at his brother with wide eyes. "But, how, how did you?"

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Who taught you?"

Mokuba hung his head. "You did."

"So that will be enough of that. It's not appreciated and unnecessary."

"You'd appreciate it later!" Mokuba defended. "And what do you mean unnecessary? If I didn't set you up with people, you'd _never_ date."

Seto glared at his brother, and the boy shrunk back. Very rarely did Seto actually get mad at him, and it wasn't an experience that Mokuba enjoyed. "I have more important things to do with my time."

With that, he turned and walked back into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Mokuba heard the lock turn and cringed. That hadn't gone well. But it could have been worse. Seto told him to stop attempting to set him up, but he hadn't denied that he was interested. And that was progress at least.

Joey knocked on the door twice. It was opened a moment later by a rather sullen looking Mokuba. "Hey, come on kiddo, you can't let the rain get you down that much." He walked in and picked the boy up, but didn't hold him for too long. He'd strained himself carrying him around, and then following that with other strenuous activities. "Besides, you know what the rain means?"

"What?" Mokuba asked skeptically.

"It means I get off work."

"Which is lucky," Jason said, following them inside and shutting the door. "Or we would have never gotten that apartment clean."

"I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow, though," Joey said, looking toward the window. "If it does I'll have nowhere to go, and your mom will just continuously pick at me."

"Why doesn't she like you?" Mokuba asked, leading them into the family room where they could sit on the couches.

Joey glanced at Jason, not exactly sure how to answer that. "She doesn't exactly approve of our relationship. Or at least, what she suspects our relationship to be. Which it is, but we deny it to her at least."

"What, because you're a guy?" Mokuba asked, rolling onto the floor to set up his game system.

"Not, exactly," Joey said slowly. He glanced around to make sure that Kaiba wasn't around. He doubted that the older sibling would approve of this conversation. "It's because Jay and I aren't really, well, exclusive. We don't really have much of a relationship. She wants her baby to find a nice boy to settle down with."

"Oh," Mokuba said, his eyes widening. "So that's why you guys are so, well, weird."

"Weird?" Jason asked, accepting the controller that Mokuba handed him. "How are we weird?"

Mokuba shrugged. "Joey checks out other people and it doesn't bother you. You're never cooing at each other or anything, like Yami and Yugi do. You're not in love with each other."

Joey snorted, jumping down off the couch and into Jason's lap. "In love? With Jay? It would take a saint to have that much patience. When he annoys me, I can just leave and deny him sex."

Jason pinched Joey's side. "Ass. Don't talk that way in front of the kid."

Mokuba giggled, starting the game. "Where is your brother, Mokuba?" Joey asked, taking the controller from Jason. The red head wrapped his arms around Joey and allowed him to steal his turn in favor of nuzzling the back of his neck.

"His room," Mokuba said, turning sullen again. "I said something and he got mad." The boy's tone said he didn't want to talk about it.

Joey gave him a friendly smack on the back, then set in to kick his ass virtually.

Seto emerged again from his room around lunch time. After fighting with his brother, he'd gone back to bed. More sleep would improve his mood. As soon as he stepped out he was thankful he'd slept. His mood was going to need all the help it could get.

Mokuba was laid out across the couch, taking up the whole thing, violently beating a controller with his thumbs. Jason was sitting on the floor up against a chair. Joey was laid on his back in front of him, his head pillowed in Jason's lap, with the other controller. Seto cringed inwardly. As violent as Joey was known to get when playing a game, it didn't seem wise to allow him that close to sensitive areas. But Jason didn't seem worried. And despite his frantic arm movements to go with his character on the screen, Joey's head didn't move an inch.

"Hi Seto!" Mokuba said brightly as Joey began to swear, having been beaten. Joey sat up and moved away from Jason. Seto wondered why he bothered. After what he'd seen yesterday morning and then again last night, it's not like there was anything to hide. "Did you go back to sleep?"

"I did," Seto answered. "I'm ordering pizza for lunch, is that okay with all of you?" He could have cooked something, but he didn't feel like. Besides, he was trying to put on weight.

"As long as you get mushrooms!"

Jason and Joey made noises of disgust that mirrored what Seto felt but didn't express.

"I'll get you one with mushrooms. The rest of us will have normal pepperoni." From some memory that he didn't even know he had, he knew that Joey preferred pepperoni over cheese. He didn't have much of a preference, and didn't really care if Jason did or not.

"You guys don't get enough veggies," Mokuba said with a snicker as he started the next game.

"Yeah, that means a lot coming from you," Joey answered, handing his controller to Jason. "Last night I couldn't force those peas down your throat."

"He doesn't like peas," Seto said, at the same time as Mokuba exclaimed the same.

"And Seto hates carrots!"

"So do I," Jason agreed, flashing a smile at Seto that surprised him. "Not Joe though. I don't think there is anything he won't eat."

"Dogs tend to be that way," Seto said mildly, as he walked into the kitchen.

Joey started to growl, glaring in the direction of the door way. Jason reached out and pulled the blonde back into his lap, running his hands through his hair. Joey quieted instantly. "Don't let that get to you," Jason said softly, kissing the top of Joey's head before pushing him up to sit on his own again. Jason handed him back the controller and stood.

Caught up in the game, Joey didn't bother to ask what Jason was doing. The redhead followed Seto into the kitchen, arriving just as he hung up the phone from placing the pizza order.

Seto looked over at him questioningly, and Jason smiled. "It's the color."

"I'm sorry?" Seto asked, taken completely off guard.

"Carrots. I can't get past the fact that they're so orange. Even oranges aren't that orange."

"I see," Seto answered, moving around the kitchen table. He ducked into the refrigerator for a soda, mostly so he wouldn't have to look at Jason.

"Anything else that you don't like?" Jason asked, causing Seto to turn and study him. Jason had followed him around the table, and was closer then necessary.

"Why?"

Jason shrugged. "I'd like to get to know you better. It seemed like a good place to start as any." He took a step closer, so Seto shut the door to the refrigerator, giving him a little more room. _'Is he, flirting?'_ Carefully, he sidestepped the redhead, moving closer to the doorway.

"I don't like sand," he answered, his back already to Jason as he walked away. Undeterred, Jason followed him with a grin. Seto took a seat on the couch with Mokuba, who moved to sit cross-legged to give his brother room. Instead of sitting back on the floor with Joey, Jason sat in the chair across from Seto.

"Alright, then what do you like?"

Seto glanced at Joey while he debated how to answer that question. The blonde was either very involved in the game, or pretended to be in order to ignore his rival's presence. "Games," he answered, looking back at Jason, who had a huge grin on his face that Seto didn't understand.

"Is that all?" Jason persisted, leaning forward.

"Jay, knock it the fuck off," Joey growled, his thumbs beating the controller with more force then necessary.

"Sorry, Joe," Jason said, reaching out to thread his hand into the blonde's hair. "I thought you said I could do what I wanted. Didn't mean to make you jealous."

Joey glared up at the redhead when his character on the screen died. "I'm not jealous, pinhead. But you're freaking Kaiba out."

Jason looked over at Seto again. He didn't meet his eyes, but rather let his gaze travel slowly up the other's body. Internally, Seto squirmed. "But Joe, he's so, gorgeous."

"Jay!" Joey exclaimed, dropping his controller entirely. "God, stop it!"

"Alright," Jason grumbled, though the grin on his face didn't drop. Seto had found something interesting on the other side of the room that needed to be studied. But Mokuba was staring at Jason with wide eyes. The two made contact, and an instant but silent conversation passed between them. Mokuba's face split into a grin that matched Jason's, and only then did he turn his attention back to the game he was playing.

Seto watched, from his place in his chair, as Jason and Joey prepared to leave. They were saying goodbye to Mokuba. Seto pretended to be interested in his book, which spared them the awkward act of having to say goodbye to him also.

"See you later, Kaiba," Joey said hesitantly on his way past. Seto grunted a reply, not looking up again until they had walked past. As they opened the door, Jason reached out for Joey's hand. But the blonde pulled away, and sped his steps, moving in front of Jason rather then beside. The door closed behind them, and he couldn't see anymore.

So Joey was angry with Jason. Somehow, he couldn't help but feel as if it was a battle he'd won. Not that he and Jason were competing for anything. Still, it felt great to see him lose.

The walk back to the apartment was silent. A blind man would have known there was something wrong, because that silence was deafening. The rain was still falling consistently, so they walked quickly, making the trip mercifully short. Not until the door with the thirty two nailed on it (the three now upside down) closed was there a sound between them.

"Do you want to tell me who shoved the stick up your ass, Joe?"

"You!" Joey replied, and Jason reflected that under any other circumstances, that would have been amusing.

"What? What did I do?"

"That, thing! That you did with Kaiba! That 'what do you like', thing!"

"What?" Jason asked, moving over to the table and leaning against the back of one of the chairs. "I was just flirting with him. You said I could."

"Not when Mokuba's around," Joey snapped, backing his legs against the side of the couch. Jason crossed his arms.

"It's not like it was dirty flirting. Mokuba's no stranger to that anyway, I'd bet."

"Then not when _I'm_ around." Joey was staring beyond Jason, at the peeling wall paper behind him. He'd yet to meet Jason's eyes.

Jason let his arms fall to his sides, and took three large steps, closing the distance between him and Joey. Joey's eyes moved to stare at his feet. "Why?"

"Because," Joey defended, trying to lean away but already trapped by the couch, unless he were to fall back onto it. Sabrina's purring presence prevented that.

"Look at me Joey. Why won't you look at me anymore?"

"Because!" Joey repeated, his eyes clenching shut when Jason tried to lift his chin.

"Because why, Joe? I thought you loved my eyes."

"They're his eyes!" Joey exclaimed. "I can't love your eyes. They're the same as his. Same color, same shape, same everything!"

"So?" Jason persisted, wrapping his hands around Joey's waist to keep him from moving away. "You can love Kaiba's eyes."

"No, I can't," Joey cried. In a heart beat, his defensive posture broke, and he collapsed forward, allowing Jason to keep him up, and hiding his face in Jason's chest. "I can't. It ruins everything. I can't, ever."

"If you love him, Joe, you love him. It's not something you can decide not to do." Jason's voice, instead of being accusing again, had turned gentle. His hands, trapping Joey's waist, had moved up to hold him steady.

"But I can't. Not before, not now, not ever, not him." Joey's voice sounded close to tears, which shocked Jason. He'd had no idea it was this serious.

"It'll be alright, Joe," he said into the blonde's hair, rubbing small circles into his back. "We'll help you."

"He's my rival," Joey said, his words muffled by Jason's chest. "We hate each other. We always have."

"Or perhaps you've always pretended to hate each other?"

Slowly, Joey looked up, and Jason kissed his forehead softly. "When he looks at you, Joe, it's with anything but hate."

"But," Joey started, then was silenced by Jason's finger pressing against his lips.

"I was testing him today, Joe. There's not even a chance that he hates you. I'm not a mind reader, I can't tell you what he does feel towards you, but I can tell you it's not hate."

"Are you sure?" Joey said, hardly above a whisper. Only in front of Jason, would this be okay. To break down, to show fear, and even hope.

"I've never lied to you before, I wouldn't start now." Bending down, he caught Joey's lips in a kiss, eliminating the need for words. Joey clung, his mouth begging Jason to make him forget, at least for a while.

End of Part One


	2. Part Two of Two

Sand Lover

By Ykarzel

Part Two of Two

Joey reluctantly pulled himself out of sleep and into awareness. Jason had his arm wrapped around him. Joey snuggled back into the warmth, and for a moment just let himself enjoy it. Then, reluctantly, he opened his eyes. He was facing Jason, who was still sound asleep despite Joey's movement.

Joey chuckled at the red head, who's mouth was hanging open and hair was all over the place. Reluctantly, he turned over to look out the window. He had to work double shift today. He saw the water still streaming down the window and knew that Emily was gonna smack him silly for getting out of it. Flipping back over, he snuggled more into Jason.

"Jay, it's raining, I don't have to work."

Jay grunted and shut his mouth, swallowing a few times before answering. "Mom is coming today," he said.

Joey groaned and hid his face in Jason's neck. "You had to remind me. I was excited for a minute."

Jason sat up and blinked, glancing at his wrist watch which had somehow managed to stay on him. "Actually, she said she'd be here in a half hour, and you know she likes to be early, we better get up."

Jason tried to sit up but Joey clung to his arm. "But we always fool around on rainy mornings."

Throwing his legs out of the bed, Jason stood up, pulling Joey out of bed in the process. "I'll make it up to you later. Hurry up and get dressed. Take a pillow out to the couch and make it look like you slept there."

Grumbling, Joey pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a tee shirt then grabbed his pillow. Figuring the best way to make it look like he was sleeping on the couch was to actually do it, he chased Sabrina off and laid down, pulling the blanket off the back and covering up with it. Sabrina jumped back up and curled up on Joey's stomach, purring contently and kneading the blanket.

Jason emerged fully dressed from the bedroom a few minutes later, presumably after having removed any evidence of the night before. He rolled his eyes at Joey's snoozing, and started the coffee so it was hot before his mother arrived.

The door bell rang and Joey groaned, putting his pillow over his head.

"Guess that means I'm answering it," Jason said, scratching the top of Sabrina's head on the way past, causing her to purr louder and dig her claws into Joey's stomach.

"Hey Ma," Jason said as the door opened, bending down to give the short woman a hug. She returned it, and another set of arms wrapped themselves around Jason's waist. "Hey Mattie, I didn't know if you'd be coming along or not." He removed one arm from his mother and wrapped it around the even shorter girl.

"I missed you!" she exclaimed, hiding her face in Jason's side.

"Come on in, you guys. Joe, look alive."

"I'd love to get up and greet them properly," Joey called over the arm of the couch. "But Sabrina has decided to insert her razors, and digs when I try to move her."

Jason laughed, pulling a chair from the kitchen table into the living room while his mother took the easy chair. "Sabrina!" Mattie squealed, coming over to stroke the cat. The calico purred appreciatively, arching into the girl's hand and curling her toes and claws into Joey's stomach.

"Arg!" Joey cried, his eyes clenched. Mattie giggled. "Oh, you think that's funny?" Joey asked her. She nodded, and Joey grinned at her. "C'meer kid, gimme a hug." She abandoned Sabrina and hugged Joey's neck. Sabrina jumped down off of Joey in favor of rubbing against Jason's ankles. He reached down and picked the offending feline up and sat her in his lap, where she settled immediately.

His stomach no longer being held hostage, Joey sat up, pulling Mattie up on the couch beside him and hugging her tightly. Joey and Mattie got along wonderfully. It was his only saving grace in her mother's eyes.

"Don't you have to work, Joseph?" she asked from her position in the chair, watching Joey through suspicious eyes.

Joey put a hand behind his head. "Actually, I was supposed to be working second and third shift today. But the rule is if it rains before first shift is up, the beach is swim at your own risk."

"Lucky you, then."

"Oh yes ma'am," Joey replied as earnestly as he could. "This is my second day of luck." She'd once given Joey permission to call her Miss. Nancy, but he'd never referred to her as anything besides ma'am.

"Anybody want coffee?" Jason asked, hoping to break the possibly awkward direction before it was followed.

"I'll get it," Joey said, jumping up as soon as his mother his answered affirmative. "Did you bring your suit with you Mattie?"

"I did, are we going to the pool?" she asked. "Cause it's raining hard."

Joey started pouring the cups. "A, friend of mine is up here from my home town," Joey said, having to force the word friend. "His little brother Mokuba is here with him. He's your age. I think you guys will get along."

When he walked the coffee over Mattie looked skeptical. "You'll still be there, right?" she asked.

Joey smiled at her. In a way, he was glad it was raining to spend time with Mattie, even if it did mean having to put up with her mother's disapproving glances and haughty comments. "Of course I will be."

"And what of this, friend, of yours?" asked Nancy, putting an emphasis on friend that meant she had taken Joey's need to force the word a different way.

"You could hardly call us that, ma'am. Actually, we merely tolerate each other. But I've been friends with Mokuba for a few years now." Jason sent Joey a sympathetic glance, knowing that talking about his relationship, or lack thereof, with Kaiba, wasn't easy.

"What of you two?" she asked, taking a sip of her coffee. "Are you two still, friends?"

Joey choked on his coffee, turning away in a coughing fit.

"It would be hard to share such close quarters if we weren't friends, Ma," Jason answered.

"And you're still sleeping out here on the couch?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at Joey.

He tried not to look at her for more then a moment at a time, because her eyes saw right through him. "Yes'm," he answered through coughs. "Couldn't kick Joe out of his bed if I tried. I don't mind. Except when certain felines decide to sleep with me." Hoping to be convincing, Joey glared at Sabrina, who ignored him.

"What if one of you decided to have somebody over?" she persisted, staring Joey down. Jason wanted to help, but could do nothing more then watch Joey apologetically.

Joey laughed nervously. "Well, it hasn't become an issue yet, and I'm moving out in exactly a week, so I doubt it will become one."

"You're leaving?" Mattie cried.

"I've gotta go home, Atty. There are people there that love me and miss me a whole lot. And unlike your big brother, I'm not out of school yet."

Mattie clung to his arm. "But _I'll_ miss you, and _I_ love you a whole lot"

"I won't be gone forever. You're like Jay. He seems to think just because I don't live here you'll never see me again. I'm not _that_ easy to get rid of." Mattie giggled at him when he ruffled her hair.

"I wasn't aware that you were still in high school, Joseph," Nancy said, setting her coffee mug down on the coffee table, probably the first time it was actually used as such and not as a foot rest.

"This'll be my last year, Ma'am. Not really sure what's going to happen after that. I might end up back out here, but perhaps not."

It took Joey three cups of coffee to handle the time it took Nancy to finish one. He knew she was deliberately sipping it slowly to draw out his agony. When she finally did finish, Jason was actually the first to jump up, putting Sabrina down on the ground. "I'm ready to swim. How about you Mattie?"

"Yeah!" she said, jumping off the couch. She led the way out, Joey hardly having enough time to change into his suit before she was dragging him out the door. Joey held her hand while they walked. Not that she wasn't old enough to walk on her own, but walking with Mattie gave him an excuse not to converse with Nancy.

When they reached the pool, Jason waving at the door man on the way in, Joey excused himself. "I'm gonna go let Mokuba know that we're here."

The moment the elevator doors closed Joey collapsed against the wall, letting out a deep sigh. Dealing with Nancy was a ballet on a cluttered floor; dance around everything while avoiding a fall flat on your face. He was so relieved to be away from her, that he was actually looking forward to a confrontation with Kaiba.

He knocked at the door without hesitation. Mokuba would be expecting him if he remembered that Mattie was supposed to be there today. When the door opened, it was Kaiba behind it. He stared at Joey for a moment. Just long enough for Joey to take in his mussed hair, his lack of shirt, and his panting.

Flying through the air from the right came Mokuba, who crashed into his brother and took him down to the floor in a series of yells. Kaiba went down fighting; trying to roll over and pull his brother off of him.

Joey watched for a moment in shock tinged with horror, as the brothers wrestled for the upper hand. Mokuba exclaimed loudly, holding his hand up in triumph. "Got it!" he shouted, attempting to pull himself off his brother. But Kaiba wouldn't have it. Grabbing Mokuba by the forearm and yanking him back down, he pinned him in one swift move.

Kaiba stared at Mokuba expectantly, pinning his wrist down, until Mokuba sighed and unclenched his fist. "Why'd you have to go and do that Seto?" The brunette didn't answer and stood, offering his hand to his brother. "He would have let me won," Mokuba said, turning to Joey who was still standing in shock at the door. "But I guess he doesn't want to lose in front of you."

"What were you fighting over?" Joey asked, thinking it had to be something really important to cause two brothers who loved each other so much to fight like that.

"Oh, it's a button," Mokuba said with a shrug. He held out his hand, and Kaiba dropped the said button into it, for Mokuba to hold out to show. Joey looked down at it. It was just a large plastic white button. There wasn't anything particularly special about it.

Kaiba was pulling back on his shirt, his back to Joey. The blonde glanced between the two, not understanding. "It's just a game," Mokuba said, smiling. "We wrestle for the button."

Joey didn't want to try to understand, so he changed the subject. "Mattie is downstairs."

Mokuba's eyes lit up, and even Kaiba turned around expectantly. "Really? I can meet her?"

Joey put a hand behind his head and looked down. "Yeah. I'd wait for you, but I've got to get back down there. If I'm gone too long, Nancy will lecture me or, something."

His shoulders sagging, he turned around. Mokuba was slightly disturbed by the complete lack of Joey that had been in the person he'd just spoken to. He shut the door and turned to his brother.

"We better hurry and get down there Seto. I don't think Joey can handle too much longer on his own."

"I'll go change," Seto responded, walking into his bedroom. Mokuba grinned. They were making progress; Seto hadn't made a smart comment about how the mutt deserved it.

When Seto and Mokuba reached the pool, a short squat woman was in the middle of elaborating to Joey why high school kids today were incompetent to take on the roles of their elders. It was obvious, however, in just the few moments that Seto heard, that she meant Joey when she said "high school" kids. Jason, Sarah, and Mattie, who looked like a mini Sarah, must have gotten their red hair from their father. Nancy was a brunette, with brown eyes that didn't match the blue of the others.

Joey jumped up upon seeing them. "Attie, Ma'am, this is Mokuba Kaiba and Seto Kaiba. They're from my home town."

Nancy stood up and Seto stepped forward to shake her hand. He already had her type pegged. Mokuba gave a small wave to Mattie, who smiled brightly. "Nice to meet you," Seto said, smiling at her. Joey glanced at him warily. The Seto Kaiba introducing himself to Nancy was not the Seto Kaiba that Joey knew.

"Seto Kaiba of Kaiba Corp?"

"One and the same," Seto said with a nod.

He took the last chair at the table for four, while Mokuba followed Mattie to the pool. Joey turned so that he was facing them, using the fact that he was a lifeguard as an excuse to turn his back on Nancy. It meant he had to face Kaiba, but he could see Jason across the table out of the corner of his eye.

Joey listened as Nancy proceeded to ask Seto various questions about his work and his life. Kaiba answered them all with detail and a smile Joey could hear but was afraid to look at because it would creep him out. This had to be how cold, impersonal Seto Kaiba used "people skills". The _falseness_ made Joey's skin crawl.

"Jason is in training to become a chef," Nancy added, switching the direction of the conversation. Joey glanced over Jason who looked just as surprised as he was.

"Joey said something about that," Seto answered politely.

Nancy turned proud eyes on her son. "He has a very bright future ahead of him. He makes me very proud."

Joey blanched involuntarily. She was attempting to interest Seto in Jason. He saw Jay hide his face in his hand. At least Jason wasn't encouraging it.

"Speaking of food," Seto said standing. "Joey, would you give me a hand? They're going to be hungry after swimming for that long."

"Sure Kaiba," Joey said, standing instantly.

"Mattie, Mokuba, get in the shallow end while Joey's gone." The two grinned at each other then raced towards the other side. They, at least, were having a good time. Mattie won the race and Mokuba tackled her for it.

Joey walked beside Kaiba in silence until they were in the elevator. Only once the door closed did Joey sag against the elevator wall again, pressing his forehead onto the cool surface in order to alleviate the headache that lingered.

"Thanks, for that, Kaiba," he said awkwardly, though he was obviously grateful.

Seto didn't respond to the gratitude. He leaned up against the back wall of the elevator and crossed his arms. "Is she always like that?"

"Every time," Joey groaned, shifting to press his other temple against the wall. "You'd swear I was drugging him and forcing him to worship the devil the way she talks about me."

"You are corrupting her only son," Seto replied with mild amusement. Joey glared at him, but it's effectiveness was lost in the way his face was pressed against the wall.

"Trust me, if there's any corrupting happening, it's not on my part." Joey snapped his mouth shut after that, feeling that he'd said too much. The silence that followed was awkward, and the ding of the elevator gave Joey a start.

They made several sandwiches, the silence only broken by the rain. Slowly though, it started to feel less awkward. Less like they weren't speaking to each other and more like they just weren't speaking.

Seto noticed Joey working slowly, and smirked to himself. He obviously didn't want to go back down there. Which Seto could understand. He'd met mothers similar to her at business dinners. They constantly told him about how wonderful they daughter was, despite the fact their daughter was attending with a date. On the bright side, at least Nancy was targeting the right gender.

With and audible sigh Joey closed the bread, then blushed realizing he'd broken the silence. The resulting silence was again awkward, as if they should be speaking and weren't. Seto cursed him for breaking that.

"Maybe she won't talk with food in her mouth," Seto said, turning around to put the meat back in the fridge. Joey laughed, almost too loudly just out of shock that Seto had made a joke. "I was being serious," Seto said, glancing at Joey. That just made Joey laugh more as he followed Seto back out of the apartment.

When they reached the pool again, Mattie and Mokuba were out of the pool and in Seto and Joey's chairs. They grinned up at them and refused to move. Seto set the plate down on the table while Joey grabbed two chairs from a nearby table to pull over.

Nancy, it seemed, had taken a warming to Mokuba too, and was questioning him about school the same way she had Seto about his job. Relieved, Joey munched on one of the sandwiches and made eye contact with Jason. They were having a very amusing silent conversation when Nancy's attention shifted again.

"I'm very impressed, Kaiba, that you've managed to accomplish so very much at a young age."

Seto looked up from the paper he was reading and gave his fake smile again. "Thank you for the compliment."

"So polite too," Nancy said, puffing up with pride as if Seto was her own son. "Some young men would do well to follow your example."

Joey focused on his knee, not trusting himself to look up. Mokuba looked questioningly at Mattie, who rolled her eyes and discreetly twirled a finger around her ear. The pair giggled at their shared joke.

Seto couldn't believe he was missing this opportunity. He had a chance here to mock Joey and prove that he was better, and he wasn't utilizing it. But there was something, unsatisfying, to have somebody help him. He'd never wanted to make Joey feel _bad _about himself, just make him angry. He knew that with Nancy and Mattie here, Joey wouldn't get angry. Even if he did, he'd be mad at Nancy too.

_'All this time, the only reason I've been trying to make him mad is so I have all his attention,'_ Seto thought to himself, with a sardonic mental smile.

Three more not-quite-jabs at Joey, and Jason stood up. "I'll be back," he said, smiling at his mother. "There's somebody I want you to meet."

Mattie and Mokuba got up too, both heading back to the pool. Seto and Joey reclaimed their old seats back, Joey once again turning his back on Nancy to face the pool.

Seto sensed the danger in the way Joey slouched and looked even more defeated. Now that Jason was gone nothing was going to hold Nancy back. Just as she opened her mouth, Seto cut in with a question of his own. "So what is it you do for a living? We've talked plenty about me."

She shut her mouth on what she was about to say and smiled. "I was a full time mom until my husband died seven years ago. Since then I've been working at the local library."

"That shows remarkable resilience," Seto said, ignoring Joey's appreciative glance. "To start working again like that."

"I had my babies to support. I'm sure you felt something similar when Mokuba came under your care. They were the most important thing."

Jason rushed back in at that moment, dragging behind him a young man by the hand. "Mom, I want you to meet Ashton, he's going to be taking my place at the hotel so that I can move back into the kitchen."

Nancy glanced at their hands, which were still together, and her eyes narrowed. "Aren't you a bit young to be working there?" she asked.

Ashton blushed red, but didn't pull his hand away from Jason's. "I, I look a lot younger then I am. I'm eighteen, nineteen soon."

Nancy smiled. "That's nice. So how long have you and my son been, friends." The pause before the last word made subtly an afterthought rather than a mask.

Ashton blushed harder, his cheeks and ears flaming a bright pink. "Well, I started working about two weeks ago, we met a few days before that." Ashton couldn't say that they weren't friends, so therefore had no way to correct her incorrect assumption. Jason grinned, it was working.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Ashton," she said with a smile. Then turned her attention back to her son. "Jason, I owe you an apology. I should have believed you when you told me that you and Joey were just friends. I promise to trust you more in the future."

Mattie, sensing that they were going to be leaving soon, got out of the pool and wrapped up in a towel that Mokuba handed her. She dug a pen out of her mom's purse and started to write on Mokuba's hand.

"It was nice meeting you too, Mr. Kaiba," Nancy said, giving him the same smile she had granted Ashton. "I'm sure we'll see you again soon, Joseph." Joey plastered a huge fake grin on his face and waved. Seto knew he was angry she'd apologized to Jason but not to him. However, he did bend over and give Mattie a huge hug. "Come on Mattie, let's go visit your sister."

"I'll walk you to the door," Mokuba exclaimed, holding his written-on hand up in the air as if he was afraid to touch it to anything. "I have to go up to the room. But I'll be back, Seto."

Joey, Jason, Seto, and Ashton stood silently as they watched Nancy and Mattie exit, escorted by Mokuba. Only after the door was firmly shut did Ashton yank his hand away from Jason.

"I can't believe you would do that," he said, in a voice so deeply angry and disappointed that volume wasn't needed.

Jason's eyes widened as he took in Ashton's death glare. "What? What is it?"

"That you would abuse my feelings for you like that to get your mother off of Joey's case. That you would take advantage of me that way, so you can be with him."

Jason's mouth fell open. He was shocked that quite, adoring Ashton was actually angry with him, and not afraid to tell him about it either. Guilt followed with the realization that something done without thought was in reality, wrong. Yet, he hadn't meant it in the self serving way that Ashton was taking it.

"Ashton," he started when the shock wore off and the guilt forced him to speak. "I didn't mean to take advantage of any feelings you might have-"

"Save it Jason. It's irrelevant, any that I had are gone now." Ashton turned and stormed out of the room, tossing his apron on one of the chairs and exiting out the door that led to the outside rather then to the rest of the hotel.

"Wait, Ashton, I didn't!" Jason called, running after him.

"Jason, Ashton!" Joey shouted, starting after the pair. He nearly tripped when his arm was grabbed and Seto held him back.

"I highly doubt your presence will help matters."

"But," Joey protested, attempting to pull away and watching Jason's figure disappear through the glass. All at once he stopped resisting, figuring Seto was right and allowing his arms to fall to his sides in defeat. Seto let go instantly, not touching him a moment more then necessary. "Shit," Joey said with passion, turning back around and kicking at the chair he had been sitting in. "This is all my fault."

Seto didn't agree, but felt that he had interfered enough and remained silent.

Joey kicked the chair again, this time back out, and fell into it. Seto too sat back down. Several moments later, Mokuba had still not returned and Seto began to wonder if he was coming back at all. Still, Joey was waiting for Jason to return, and even though he felt awkward waiting with him, it would be even more awkward to get up and leave.

It took several long silent minutes, in which Joey continuously displayed his frustration on the table or chair legs. Seto didn't understand why Joey was so involved in this, but knew that if he continued to watch he'd figure it out eventually.

Joey flew out of his seat before Jason even opened the door; he'd been watching through the glass for the red head to appear. "What happened?"

Jason sighed and accepted the hands that Joey held out to him. Seto kept quiet, remaining the observer and attempting to fade away. He felt he was succeeding; they were acting in that natural state they only had when they thought he wasn't looking.

"I managed to convince him that I wasn't trying to use him so you and I could be together. He only believes me because I reminded him that you were leaving next week. But I can't give him a reasonable excuse for wanting him to meet my mother."

"Why don't you just tell him the truth?" Joey asked, his eyes glued to Jason's in a type of urgency. The last thing that Joey wanted was for everything to fall to pieces for Jay right before he left. "That you wanted to give her that impression because it's true."

Jason squeezed Joey's hands. "But Joe, we only have a few more-"

Joey cut him off with a finger against his lips. "Jay, it wouldn't matter if we had a day or a month. We promised we'd never get in each other's way of a real relationship." He removed his finger and leaned forward, giving Jay a quick kiss. "Last kiss. Your shift with him starts soon anyway. Go home, shower, get ready, make him tie your tie, and tell him how you feel. I'll be moved out of the apartment before your shift's over. That way he'll know you're serious."

"Joe, you don't have anywhere to go."

"I'll call Em and see if I can sleep on her couch tonight, and then after your Mom goes home Sarah will let me stay with her. It's only a few days."

"But," Jason started, and Joey cut him off with a huge hug.

"No buts. Good luck. I'll be by tomorrow morning to find out how it went."

"Thanks Joe," Jason relented, squeezing him back.

"Joey, you can stay at our place," Mokuba said from his spot by the door. Jason, Joey, and Seto whipped around, none of them hearing the boy come in. "We have two couches. And we're going home the same day you are."

Joey was about to protest, but Jason pinched his side, and caused the blonde to change his mind. Jason's silent message was right; this was an opportunity. "Kaiba? Do you mind? I hate to ask, but,"

Seto's attention moved from his brother, to Joey, who was still wrapped in Jason's arms, then to the pool. "That's fine,' he said, standing in order to keep from looking at any of them. He picked up the remnants of their luncheon and started for the door.

"I have to go," Jason said, hugging Joey again. "If you become a stranger I'll never forgive you."

Joey laughed. "I'm staying in this hotel. You'll see more of me now then you did before."

"Thanks for helping me, Mokuba," Joey said, following behind the boy who was carrying one of his bags.

"It's cool that you'll be staying with us Joey. I'm surprised you managed to pack in an hour."

Joey laughed, closing the door to the Kaiba's room behind him. "Well, I've been getting ready to go for a week now. So it didn't take much."

"Dinner's in the kitchen," Seto said, walking past the two and into his room. Mokuba stuck his tongue out at his brother's back until the door shut.

"Is something wrong with him?" Joey asked.

"Nothing that sex won't cure," Mokuba responded, dropping Joey's belongings in the corner.

"Mokuba!"

"What? It's true."

"Even so, you shouldn't talk about your brother that way."

"I'll stop talking about it as soon as you cure him, kay?" Mokuba called as he walked into the kitchen, leaving Joey with his stuff.

Joey, unable to think of a response to that which would be appropriate to shout into the other room, remained silent. So Mokuba was onto this too? He should have known Jason had a conspirator.

A few hours later, Joey pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and was reminded of the beginning of this summer when he'd first started living with Jason, before they shared a bed. Behind him he heard one of the bedroom doors open, and instinctively knew that it was Kaiba still awake and about. Or perhaps instinct was knowing that Mokuba had fallen sound asleep an hour ago.

The footsteps paused, as if he had just remembered he wasn't alone in this room, then continued to the kitchen.

Joey smiled and sighed, getting comfortable on the couch. Staying here would be interesting.

Seto dressed before he went out to start the coffee, not wanting to be seen by Joey in what he usually slept in. When he did reach the kitchen, though, Mokuba was eating a bowl of cereal, the coffee was already made, and the brothers were alone.

"Where's Joey?" he asked before he could stop.

"Went to see Jason to find out how things went with Ashton, and then he's going to work. He has morning shift for his last week. He made you coffee."

Seto paused in his pouring of the coffee. It hadn't really occurred to him that Joey was still working; he always acted like he was on a vacation. "Are we going to the beach then?"

"Are you still pale?"

Chuckling, Seto sat down beside his younger brother.

Joey unlocked the apartment door and it didn't occur to him until after he was inside that maybe he should have knocked. After all, he didn't live here anymore, despite the fact that he still had a key.

Jason wasn't up yet, so Joey went over to start another pot of coffee this morning. Just as he turned the machine on he heard the bedroom door open and turned around. The red head was stark naked, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Morning Jay."

Jason looked up, surprised. "Joe? What are you doing here?"

"I told you I was going to stop by to see how it went." At that moment, Ashton walked out of the room. He, at least, was wearing boxers, but he still went wide eyed and red when he spotted Joey. "Oh," Joey said, "better than I thought."

Jason rolled his eyes and moved toward the kitchen. "Are you making coffee?"

"Yeah, it's started," Joey said, using his arms to lift himself onto the counter. "So," he grinned cheekily at the pair of them. "How'd it go?"

Jason walked over and pulled the coffee pot out from the machine and stuck his mug under it, waiting until he had a few sips before replacing it. He sucked it down black and completely ignored Joey's question.

"I'm gonna go clean up and get dressed, Ash, don't let him get to you."

Still blushing and avoiding eye contact with Joey, Ashton sat down at the table. Jason walked back into the bedroom and shut the door behind him.

"If I had known you'd be here," Joey said after a moment, "I would have at least called first."

Ashton didn't look up but he smiled and hugged his arms to his bare chest. "It wasn't exactly planned. And, what you did was really sweet, so, thanks." He looked up for a brief moment on the last word, then down again.

"Here," Joey said, tossing something at Ashton. The boy looked up and caught it as it was flying at him. Opening his hand too look at it, he realized it was the apartment key. "I officially don't live here anymore, so you'd better take that for me."

Ashton blushed again, but smiled. Joey watched in amusement. He already like the kid, which was good, because he wasn't going to be around to kill him if he wasn't good to Jason.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened last night, or am I going to have to drag it out of Jay?"

"He cornered me back in the kitchen," Ashton replied almost too quickly, as if he wanted to tell somebody badly and was holding it back. "And asked me if I was doing anything after work."

Joey put the back of his hand to his forehead and pretended to swoon. "So romantic."

"Hey!" Ashton defended, glaring.

Joey held his hands up in defense. "I'm only teasing you Ashton. I couldn't be happier for the two of you, honest."

Ashton's glare cooled instantly. "Sorry, I just," he paused, "well, I feel like I have a lot to live up to. You and Jay are so, close."

Joey nodded. "That we are." He jumped down and patted Ashton on the shoulder on the way to get a cup of coffee. "But Jay and I are just really close friends. _Really_ close, but still just friends. You and Jay will be very different. It'd be like an apple trying to live up to a banana. There just isn't a common ground to compare them."

"Except taste."

Joey smirked at him over his coffee rim. "I'm sure you taste just fine."

Ashton hid his face behind his hand but still laughed. Jason came back out, this time donning clothing. Joey walked over and hugged him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Joe, you're making Ash jealous."

Joey mock gasped. "I would never want to do that." He walked back over to Ashton, bent down and kissed him on the cheek too. Ashton was caught between shock and laughter; Jason, too used to Joey to be shocked, just laughed. "Alright you lover birds it's been fun but I'm working morning shift. I get paid today, Jay, do you still want half the rent?"

"Are you still living here?" Jay asked, coming over to stand beside Ashton. Joey watched as Jay snaked an arm around Ashton's neck.

"No, but I was for most the month."

"Don't worry about it Joe. Besides, Ash is gonna take over for me today, I'm moving back to the kitchen tonight."

"Congratulations, Jay. Well, I'll probably see you both around the hotel."

"How did that go last night?" Jason asked as Joey headed for the door.

"If something happens you'll be the first to know," Joey promised, closing the door behind him.

Jason headed over to get a full cup of coffee this time, and noticed Ashton spinning something silver on the table. "What's that, Ash?"

"Joey's key," Ashton said, smiling shyly up at Jason. "He thought I might need it." Laughing, Jason bent down to give the brunette a kiss.

Joey glanced down when he heard Mokuba run back to Seto from the water. Sunday through Tuesday had been bright clear days. Now, Wednesday, Mokuba had still not had enough beach.

It was doing Kaiba good, though, Joey could tell from up in the chair. His skin had finally absorbed some color and the hallows around his eyes were long gone. Seto glanced up at Joey, and for a long moment the two made eye contact. Then the brunette looked away again, back down at Mokuba.

Joey sighed as he turned his attention back to the water. For the past three days it had been that way. Eye contact held a moment too long to be normal, conversations that went one step too far, physical contact that was sustained a breath longer then necessary.

Kaiba was interested. Joey knew it now. It could have been those little signs that proved it, or proving it making him aware of those little signs. It might have been Jason assuring him that Kaiba didn't hate him that allowed him to notice these things, or just living in the same place and being around him so much.

It was all very frustrating. If they were fighting, well that was one way to release the frustration, one that had worked for a long time. If they were fucking, that would be an even better way. But now they weren't doing _anything_ except look at, touch, or talk to each other just a bit too much to be normal.

He was so intent on the water and his own thoughts that he didn't even notice when Mokuba walked over and climbed up on the chair. "Almost done Joey?" he asked.

"Soon as Emily gets here to take over Mokuba."

"She's late," he said, tugging on Joey's foot.

"I'm never late," Emily said, ducking around the other side of the chair and making Mokuba jump. "I'm just on my own time."

"Almost on mine," Joey said, jumping down and picking her up by the waist to lift her into the chair.

She laughed at him and patted him on the head. "We're gonna miss you Joe." He squeezed her hand once before allowing Mokuba to drag him over to where he and Seto had a blanket laid out.

Joey fell down onto it, letting out a sigh as he spread out on his back. "Aren't you coming down to the water Joey?"

"You go ahead, I'll be there in a few minutes." Mokuba sped off, not wanting to deny the blonde a chance to be alone with his older brother if he asked for it.

Seto glanced over at Joey, quickly, and noted his eyes were closed. When he looked over again a moment later and Joey's eyes were still closed, he allowed his gaze to linger. He didn't know how Joey could manage to sit in the sun for hours everyday and not burn. Only with sunscreen and careful, timed, rotations had Seto managed to avoid turning bright pink, and even so his shoulders and the back of his neck were starting to tinge. But Joey's skin was anything but pink. Seto let his eyes roam down the blonde's chest, his tan skin glistening in the sun.

He allowed himself a slow, visual feast down and back up Joey's chest. The smooth, bronze shine of his skin. The fine trail of sun bleached blond hair that started just below his belly button and continued down past where Seto could see. The dips and peeks of his abs which moved with each breath. The slightly darker coloring of his nipples, relaxed in the warmth of the sun. The hallow that dipped between his collar bones. His wide shoulder and strong neck that begged to be kissed and sucked on.

Joey's eyes ripped Seto's away from his neck. Seto realized he'd been caught. Joey kept their gaze locked. His eyes, a warm dark brown accented with golden honey, offered Seto a challenge.

There was no way to deny it now. Joey knew that Seto wanted him. And Seto knew Joey returned the feeling. The only question now was what were they going to do about it.

Joey reached a hand out to Seto. The brunette took it without thinking. Joey used it to pull himself up into a sitting position, and used the leverage to jump up on his feet. Without a word to Seto, he turned and walked toward the ocean.

Seto saw the challenge to follow; it was as obvious as if Joey had verbally dared him to do it. Yet, he hesitated, and decided not to accept. Sitting with his arms resting on his legs, he watched the blonde's butt as he walked down the beach.

Somehow, on the way back inside, Mokuba had ended up being carried by Joey in a piggy back. They seemed to be in a hurry, which Seto didn't understand, but he followed behind them. Joey practically danced as they waited for the elevator to come down. He glanced at a clock and then at the stairs.

"Don't you dare," Seto said before he could help it. "Not with Mokuba at least." Good cover. That made it sound like he was worried about Mokuba's safety, not Joey's when carrying Mokuba up several flights of stairs.

"Good point," Joey said. "Down you go." He leaned back to let Mokuba off, then turned and bolted up the stairs. Seto wanted to ask, as he was sure Mokuba knew, but he refrained himself.

By the time the elevator arrived on their floor, and really there were only two suites on the floor; the other was vacant so it was _theirs_, Joey was waiting to get on the elevator. He was already changed, his hair brusquely dried, and dressed in better clothing the Seto had seen on him yet.

"I'll see you guys later," he said, patting Mokuba on the head, and grinning at Seto. The brunette kept his mouth in a straight line, trying to pick up on any clues as to his destination.

"Have fun, Joey. Say hi to everybody for me."

"Will do. I'd bring you along, kid, but," he grinned, "I don't think I'm going to be old enough so I know you won't be. Don't wait up!" he called through the closing elevator doors.

Mokuba snickered and walked toward their door, waiting for Seto to fish out his key. Seto figured it had to be some kind of party, one that probably involved alcohol. He thought on that a moment as they went in. Everybody would probably mean Jason, Ashton, Emily, Sarah, and anybody else that worked at this hotel or with Joey. Perhaps this was a goodbye party for Joey.

Pleased with his ability to surmise as much from two sentences, he unlocked the door and let Mokuba in ahead of him.

When the door opened, Seto refrained, with years of refined self control, from looking up. He kept his eyes glued to his paper, reading the same sentence over in his head but still not understanding it.

"Kaiba?" came Joey's voice. He was surprised, no doubt, to find Seto still awake at three in the morning, and sitting in the living room at that. "What are you doing?"

"Searching for a loop hole in this contract," Seto answered in a bored statement. In reality he was reading a report on last month's finances, but there was no way Joey would know the difference.

"Why are you still up?" Seto didn't answer. Joey walked into Seto's peripheral vision, and Seto watched him stumble and nearly fall onto the couch.

"Are you drunk?" he asked, setting the paper down and looking up to stare at the blonde. Joey was sprawled out on the couch, his hand to his forehead.

"They made me take a shot for every minute I was late."

"How late were you?"

"Fifteen minutes."

"What was in them?" Seto asked incredulously, fearing slightly for Joey's safety.

Joey laughed. "No idea. Couldn't have been too bad though. Jay'd never let me do something dangerous."

Seto relaxed, realizing he should have already known that. "Did you drink besides that?"

"Some," Joey answered, wondering why Seto was acting like a mother hen.

"You don't sound drunk," Seto said after another moment.

"I never do," Joey answered, sitting up slowly with the aid of the couch arm. "My speech and mind are completely clear." He looked up at Seto, then pressed a hand against the side of his face as if to steady it. "Except there's two of you, and I know I'm not going to be able to walk to the bathroom without stumbling."

"You act more sober drunk than sober," Seto said, crossing his arms.

Joey laughed, the action causing him to fall back over into a horizontal position. "You know, I always told Tristan I thought more clearly when I was drunk and he never believed me."

Seto smiled, very slightly. This was comfortable. Some how, Joey's intoxication took all the pressure out of interacting with him. He stood, and walked over to the blonde. "I'll help you to the bathroom," he said, offering his hand. He was reminded suddenly of earlier on the beach.

"Great," Joey said, reaching for it. "I need a shower so badly, I'm gonna make the whole place smell like booze."

When Joey took his hand, Seto tried to pull him up at the same time he tried to lift himself up. The result was an overcompensation for Joey's weight, and the blonde stumbled and fell onto Seto, who just barely managed to keep his own balance.

Seto held Joey steady. Joey laughed at his own fall, gripping onto Seto's forearms. Seto didn't laugh, and his silence eventually quelled Joey's laughter.

But Seto's silence was not because he felt it wasn't humorous, but that he was suddenly very aware of Joey's body pressed against his, of holding Joey against him. Slowly, he snaked his arms further around Joey, pulling him closer and tighter.

That cut off the rest of Joey's laughter, and he became aware of their proximity all at once. He froze, his mind starting to run too fast and for the first time actually making him feel drunk. Perhaps he wasn't as sober minded as he had thought, because he couldn't think this through.

Seto eventually had Joey held against him in nearly a hug; a steady, comfortable, supporting way. Joey found himself looking over Seto's shoulder, unable to see him, but able to feel everything.

Seto bent his head down until his face was buried in Joey's neck. He inhaled deeply, because under the alcohol he could smell Joey's aftershave or cologne or deodorant or maybe shampoo; whatever it was that made him smell as good as he did. As he exhaled, it came as a sigh that allowed the tension to flee from him, causing his body to meld better against Joey's.

Seto's sigh caused Joey's mind to stop the circle it was running in, and brought back his ability to think. He tightened his hands on Seto's forearms. He waited a moment more (because it felt _so good_), then used them to push Seto back and keep himself steady at the same time.

"Come on, Kaiba, stop," Joey said, not looking up but putting as much distance between them as he could without letting go. He didn't want to look Seto in the eyes because his will power was already taxed enough by the large amount of alcohol in his system. "Right now, I just, need a shower and to sleep this off."

Seto pulled away all at once, and Joey nearly fell face foreword, but managed to stop himself. Before he'd even taken two steps in the direction of the bathroom he heard Seto's door slam shut.

Sitting in the bright sun, on the loud beach, with a hangover and four hours of sleep, was not Joey's favorite thing to do. Nonetheless, tomorrow would be his last day of work, so he had refused to call in, and had decided to make the best of it.

"Hey Joey," came Mokuba's voice from below him, and Joey glanced down only momentarily because the sun made the sand bright and it hurt to look at.

"Hey, kid. Where's your brother?"

"He said he didn't want to come and that I'd be fine on my own," Mokuba answered. "He seemed pretty pissed off, I think something happened at work. I just wanted to let you know I'm here." He took off down towards the water as if he'd been burned.

Joey cringed. Even though Seto had never been awake before he left for work, something this morning was ominous about the closed door, as if Seto _could_ have been out there and refused to be. Now, Seto didn't want to come down to the beach. Somehow, Joey had screwed up last night.

Luckily, Emily was due to be there any minute. Seto probably expected Joey to stay with Mokuba, which would be the only reason why he would be allowed to go the ocean by himself. But Emily was a very good lifeguard, better than Joey, and he trusted her to watch him.

The walk back to his, now old, apartment took ten minutes if he walked, and five if he ran. Standing in front of apartment thirty two, he spent a whole thirty seconds fishing for his key before he remembered that he no longer had one.

Instead of knocking, he started to bang the door rhythmically, knowing that Jason would recognize this "knock" right away from the one time he had locked himself out of the apartment.

It took longer then he would have expected, before Jason threw the door open. The redhead looked flustered, and as usual was wearing little clothing. "Joe? What is it?"

"I need help," Joey answered, and Jason opened the door to let him in. "I screwed up, Jay," Joey started right away, automatically falling into the track he often paced, as he had the night they'd come back from watching Mokuba.

"What happened?" Jay knew better than to try to calm Jay down; that the best course of action would be to sit and allow him to walk his energy off. He sat down beside Ashton on the couch, who had his face hidden in his knees and was shaking with either laughter, anger, or tears.

"When I came back last night, I was smashed, you know. He was, he was waiting up for me. He had to be, because he was working out on the couch, which he never does. He always stays in his room you know?"

Jason made an affirmative sound and reached an arm out to draw Ashton closer to him. Ashton relented completely, falling over and hiding his face instead in Jason's lap. Jason ran his hand up and down Ashton's bare back in a comforting gesture.

"I came in, and, he started, mothering me. He was really, concerned, that I was drunk. And I was, but I remember it all. He was comfortable, and nice to me. As if, because I was messed up he didn't have to be, so, so,"

"Distant?" Jason supplied.

"Exactly," Joey said, turning to look at him and noticing Ashton for the first time. His initial reaction was how absolutely adorable Ashton looked curled up on Jason's lap. Then he took in several aspects, such as the flushed color of Ashton's skin, Ashton's state of half dress, because with Jason it was a normal occurrence, and the way both were taking long, deep breaths. "Oh, God," he said, his eyes widening in horror. "I am so sorry."

Jason snickered. "Don't worry about it Joe, just keep going. What happened next?"

Joey's shocking realization seemed to take the energy out of him. He quit pacing and fell down into the easy chair. "He was going to help me walk to the bathroom. He helped me up and I fell against him. He just, held me. He wasn't cold, or stiff."

Ashton started giggling, muffled slightly by Jason's thigh. Joey glared at him even if Ashton couldn't see it. "That's not was I meant and you know it, pervert."

"Keep going Joe," Jason coaxed, pinching Ashton's side to make him stop.

"I knew what was happening, Jay. So, I pulled away and I told him to stop."

"Why?" Jason asked incredulously. The ending he had been expecting was that Kaiba had given a little and Joey had overdone it, gone too far. Not the opposite.

"I was _drunk_. I, I just didn't want to be drunk the first time we, you know." Ashton started snickering again. "Not that!" Joey defended. "He was going to kiss me. I know he was." The disappointment and regret evident in Joey's voice shut Ashton up before Jason had a chance to pinch him. The brunette sat up, finally getting an idea of the seriousness of the problem.

"So, what's wrong now?"

"He's avoiding me," Joey said, pulling his legs up to his chest. Ashton got up and walked over, sitting down on the arm of the chair and wrapping an arm around Joey. The blonde was slightly surprised, but then realized Ashton had probably been going through about the same thing a week ago and related better than Jason really would ever be able to.

"Look, Joe," Jason said, leaning forward. "He probably took you stopping things last night for rejection. And he's one of those types that _nobody_ rejects, so his defense will be to pretend it never happened, and you don't exist."

Joey groaned, and let his head fall onto Ashton's leg. "We're all the way back to square one."

"Nah, this can be salvaged," Jason said thoughtfully. "Just not by you." Joey looked up. "Stay here, I'll be back in just a bit."

"What are you going to do?" Joey asked. "Don't, mess it up."

"Joe," Jason said, pausing in putting on his shirt. "Haven't I always taken care of you before?"

"Works both ways," Joey said, crossing his arms.

"Trust me, I know his type. Don't hit on my boyfriend." Jason shut the door behind him, leaving Joey and Ashton alone. Joey looked up at the brunette, who was staring at the closed door with wide eyes.

"What is it?"

"He's, never called me that before," Ashton said, fighting a huge grin.

"Huh," Joey said, crossing his arms and turning to look at the door too, as if they could both still see the red head. "I'm actually a little jealous. He _never_ called me that."

Ashton, finally starting to understand when Joey was joking, laughed and gave the blonde a shove on the shoulder.

The coffee had long grown cold, but Seto continued to stir it in a counter clockwise motion. He'd pulled the blinds, and sat with the lights off. He didn't want to be in the sun today, attempting to better fit society's views of healthy. He wanted to sit in the dark and brood.

The knock at the door didn't startle him; in a state of indifference nothing is surprising. He thought for a moment. Both Mokuba and Joey had a key, so it would be neither of them. Perhaps it was a maid. But he knew that the hotel kept careful track of when he left so they knew when to clean, so he doubted there'd be a mistake. He'd half decided not to answer it, when the knock came again and he found he was standing and heading for the door before he'd really thought it all the way through.

Somehow, it wasn't surprising to see Jason on the other side either. That didn't feel like an effect of the indifference. "Joey's not here," Seto said shortly.

"Joey's back at the apartment," Jason said, pushing the door further open and stepping through it.

Seto turned around and walked away, as Jason was obviously going to come in, invited or not. He walked back to seat at the table and sat down, returning to stirring his cold coffee. He didn't ask Jason to sit, so the red head stopped at the edge of the table, resting his hands on the back of the chair.

"Look, I love Joey," Jason started.

"Ashton will be crushed," Seto replied, staring into the black of the mug.

"You _know_ what I mean. Joey's only lived here a few weeks, and he's already become the best friend I've ever had."

"I'm sure the sex helped with that."

"Damn it Kaiba!" Jason said, slamming his fist down on the table. That caused Seto to look up, meeting Jason's sharp blue eyes that glared down at him. Perhaps it was that Seto was sitting while Jason was standing, but he suddenly became aware how much bigger, stronger, and older Jason was than he. His mouth snapped shut.

"In two more days, Kaiba, I will lose my best friend. I want to know that he'll be as happy back home as he was here. And you have a chance to give me that assurance. The fact that you're about to throw that opportunity away, therefore, infuriates me. So, I want you to do something about it or I will."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about. Last night."

"Nothing happened."

"You're damn right nothing happened," Jason said, finally lifting his fist off the table. He kept Seto's eyes glued to his through sheer will. "And not for lack of desire on _either_ part, Kaiba. But because Joe wanted to make sure that he was _sober_ for your first kiss."

Kaiba pressed his lips together to resist a retort, and stared Jason down with a will of his own. For a moment more Jason stared, then turned on his heel. He paused for a moment in the doorway that led to the living room, but didn't turn around. "Joe likes to be petted," he said slowly, as if it was something he'd rather not share. "It really doesn't matter where, he just, loves constant contact." Waiting just a moment more as if debating to say something more, Jason started walking again. Only when Seto heard the door shut did he push the coffee away in disgust.

Joey stopped by to pick Mokuba up at the beach, under the pretense of getting lunch, before he headed back to the apartment. In reality he just didn't want to go back alone. He tried not the be nervous; but Jason had refused to tell him what he'd said to Seto.

Mokuba was chatting away about, well something. Something Joey didn't really have to listen too because Mokuba was doing all the talking. The apartment was still dark; the curtains were all closed. But the light in the kitchen was on, so they both naturally went in that direction.

"Whatcha making, Seto?" Mokuba asked. "I'm starved."

Joey was surprised to see the brunette. Somehow he still expected him to be locked in his bedroom. But instead he was standing in front of the stove, his back to both of them.

"Just soup. Simple, but I figured you'd both be hungry after baking all day in the sun."

The use of the word both in that sentence told Joey that everything was okay again. Jason had managed to undo what Joey had done last night.

"So Joey," Mokuba said with a grin, as Seto put their lunch on the table. "How was the party?"

Joey looked down at his soup, careful to keep Seto completely out of his range of view so there was no chance that they'd make eye contact. "It was a lot of fun."

"What time did you get back in?"

"Late," Joey answered, feeling his cheeks warm.

"Oh, come on Joey, I'm not a little kid. Tell me about the party."

Joey let his head rest on his left hand and picked up his spoon with the right. "Never drink, Mokuba."

"Joey," Mokuba groaned. "I already have a big brother. Save the lectures."

"I had a great time at the party, but for one night of fun I may have sacrificed something I've wanted for years. And I regret it."

Mokuba was thoroughly confused now, but by the was Joey was carefully avoiding looking at Seto and the way Seto was staring silently at his own meal, told him _something_ had happened. Joey, however, was proud of the confession. It had allowed him to apologize without the awkward act of doing so. He excused himself from the table and went into the family room.

Joey had gone over to Jason's and Ashton's for dinner, as Jason wanted to practice some of the dishes he would have to prepare from now on. But they hadn't eaten until Jason got off, which was late, and conversation afterwards ran even longer. So Joey was later getting back then he intended.

He opened the door quietly, and had to stand beside it for a few moments to let his eyes adjust to the dark of the room. He blinked until he could sort of make out the furniture, at least avoid running into things. He made his way over to his stuff and stripped down to his boxers, tossing the clothes inside the open suitcase.

He made his way to the couch slowly, nearly tripping on the rug he'd forgotten existed. He swore to himself, more for a break from the silence than actual frustration. He sat down on what would serve as his bed with a sigh, grateful to be away from the hazards.

"You should be more careful, Jou," came a voice, causing Joey to jump and nearly squeal.

"Kaiba!" Joey hissed. "What the hell? Don't do that to me!" Seto was sitting in one of the chairs, which was completely in shadow. Joey couldn't see him at all, even squinting. But he didn't have to see Seto to know he was smirking.

"Sorry to have startled you," Seto replied smoothly, his voice deep enough that it wouldn't carry, so he didn't have to whisper.

Joey laid down, giving the pillow a punch to avoid lashing out at Seto. "Stupid couch," he mumbled, kicking in order to get situated.

"Are you comfortable?" Seto asked.

"Yes," Joey answered cautiously, his frustration suddenly disappearing. This situation was different, something was up.

"Are you lying?"

"Yes."

Joey could hear Seto stand up, and once standing he could see his silhouette through the dark. Seto reached his hand out, the light color of his skin easier for Joey to see. Feeling a frightening sense of déjà vu, Joey reached out and took it.

Seto pulled him up, and this time both managed to keep their balance. As was the norm in the past few days, their hands remained together a breath longer then necessary, then were dropped quickly. Seto started to walk away, and the challenge to follow was implied again.

Joey took a moment too long in making up his mind to accept; he couldn't see where Seto was going. "Kaiba, wait, I can't see."

Seto's hand appeared in the darkness, it's color once again giving it away. Joey took it with both of his. He followed Seto's arm until he was right behind him. He held Seto's hand against his abdomen with his left hand, and held Seto's upper arm with his right, insuring that he would follow directly in the brunette's path and avoid running into anything.

They moved slowly across the room, and Joey let his eyes fall shut, as he couldn't see anyway, and enjoyed the feeling of Seto's cool hand on his stomach.

When he heard Seto's door open, his eyes flew back open. Once inside, Seto stopped short, and stared at the single window with one curtain open, leaving in enough light so that Joey could see his facial features for the first time. Somehow, he knew that wasn't part of the plan. The plan was darkness. Without alcohol to take away the awkwardness, Seto planned darkness. A single curtain betrayed them.

Joey didn't want to lose this, not again. He dropped Seto's hand and crossed the room, closing the curtain in one swift motion, plunging the room into darkness. What little night vision he'd had was destroyed now. Unable to see, he stood there, waiting.

He heard Seto breathing before he felt the hand on his waist. He held stock still, afraid to do anything that would interrupt this. A moment later, a second hand mirrored the first. Slowly, inch by inch, the two hands moved to meet each other in the middle of his back. He wanted to reach up, to warp his arms around Seto's neck, but fear kept him still. Not of something happening, but of something not happening.

Gradually, so slowly it made Joey want to cry and laugh, he was pulled closer. Seto's arms came around him, to hold him. Joey still waited to move, waited to respond. For a while they stood there, silent, Joey held cautiously in Seto's arms.

Joey had never been so aware of his own body before. He fought nerves to hold still, ignoring the way his legs suddenly ached from being locked in place. He carefully monitored his own breathing, self consciously not wanting to sound like he was out of breath, though thinking about it only made it harder to control. He tried to breathe down, so he wasn't breathing in Seto's face. For some reason he couldn't seem to breathe through his nose.

Slowly, his eyes were adjusting, and he could make out Seto's outline. In a moment, they'd be able to see each other.

Seto leaned forward, and Joey's breathing stopped altogether. Just as he had the night before, he buried his face in Joey's neck, and Joey recognized the test. They continuously challenged each other, like two little kids daring each other to climb trees and jump off walls; the dare its self was rarely completed, it was in the daring they enjoyed themselves. This was a dare to push Seto away again, to back out now and pretend it hadn't happened.

Joey reached up and grabbed Seto's forearms again, mocking the night before. He felt Seto's breath hitch, perhaps afraid Joey would stop them. Joey pulled the arms around him tighter, causing Seto to hold him closer and their bodies to be pressed firmly against each other. Then he let go, and wrapped his arms around Seto, locking him there. Bending his neck, Joey could smell Seto's shampoo in his hair. It had a mint quality to it

They were holding each other. Slowly, their grips became less tight and more comfortable. It was solid, soft, and warm.

Joey was the first to pull away, but not enough to separate their bodies. Only enough so that Seto was forced to look him in the eye.

In the dark, Seto's blue eyes were gray, his pupils large. His eyes didn't look wide, like a deer trapped in the headlights, as Joey was sure his own did. Suddenly self conscious, he closed his eyes and leaned forward so that their foreheads were pressed together. Their breath mingled between them and Joey was reassured to realize Seto's breathing was stilted too.

Joey knew what was about to happen a heart beat before it did because Seto's breathing stopped. Seto's lips came up against his bottom one, and instantly he closed his mouth to kiss back. Three breaths later, Seto pulled back, not just from the kiss but entirely away from him. Joey reached out instinctively, managing to grab one hand to keep from being deserted. He then blushed at his own dependence, but didn't let go.

In three steps, Seto led Joey to the side of the bed, then let go of his hands, and walked around to the other side. Joey understood, and nervously crawled onto the side Seto had assigned him. Never before had getting into bed with someone been so nerve wracking.

Were they getting under the covers or on them? Should he undress, or stay clothed? He stalled until Seto got in first, and as the brunette hadn't stripped and had gotten under the covers, Joey took a cue.

He laid down on his back, trying, once again, to calm his breathing enough that he could use his nose. He stared at the ceiling, trying to think things through as fast a possible. Seto was a control freak, he knew that, so he should probably refrain from taking any of that control away. Which didn't bother him yet. For now, he didn't mind allowing somebody else to call the shots.

A minute later, when nothing had happened, Joey glanced over at Seto. The brunette was laying on his stomach, his head turned _away_ from Joey. The blonde stared for a long time, trying to figure out what _this_ meant. He had no way of knowing if he was asleep or not, though somehow Joey doubted it.

For a moment, he seethed in silent anger. Seto thought he was rejected last night, how was _this_ supposed to feel? He weighed his options. If he made a move, Seto would probably resent him for it, because Seto was supposed to be the leader. He couldn't call out to him, speaking would make this too real, and this couldn't be real until it was over or it would become too awkward and collapse. If he got up and left, which in his angry state he wished sourly he could do, Seto would take his departure for rejection again.

He felt cheated. As if Seto had been obligated to kiss him once, but that was all that he had to do.

Slowly, his frustration cooled. Studying the brunette, he could tell in the stiff hold of Seto's shoulders and his short, quick breaths that he was not only awake, but terrified, though he'd probably viciously deny it.

Before he had any time to debate his own daring, Joey reached out and grabbed Seto's hand, pulling it toward himself. Seto allowed his arm to be moved, though Joey could see his shoulders tense.

Joey placed Seto's hand on his abdomen again, silently communicating with Seto more than words could say by repeating the action from earlier. Once again Seto's hand felt cool against his skin. He threaded his fingers between Seto's, holding his the hand in place. He liked contact. If Seto was going to get away with running, he would at least give Joey contact.

Seto's shoulders relaxed, the tension visibly fleeing. He squeezed Joey's hand ever so slightly, causing the blonde's heart to jump. Finally both able to breath normally, sleep soon claimed the pair of them.

Joey's mental clock was set to wake him early, he was working first shift. Usually the faint lightening in the sky would manage to ease him awake. But when he came into awareness all at once, he knew something was wrong.

His mind caught up quickly, and he realized the reason he hadn't been eased awake was the curtains were pulled closed to block the light. He couldn't imagine why Jason would do that. All at once, he realized the body pressed against his wasn't Jason's.

He went first cold, then very warm, at the realization that he was curled against Seto Kaiba. But he didn't have long to bask in the feeling. Today was his last day of work, and if he waited any longer he was going to be late. He pulled slowly away from Seto's heat, hoping that he slept at least as soundly as Jason did. The last thing that Seto needed was to be losing sleep.

Once free from the tangles of the sheets, he looked back down to find Seto very much asleep, and breathing softly. He lingered a moment more, just looking. Never before had he seen Seto sleep. There wasn't anything particularly different about how he looked asleep rather then awake, except maybe more relaxed. But just the idea, that he'd been trusted enough to bare witness to Seto's most vulnerable state, made him smile. So what if nothing had happened. Nothing needed to.

He left reluctantly, rushing through the morning chores he'd assigned himself upon moving in. Making the coffee, set out the stuff for Mokuba's morning boy of cereal. As if thinking of the boy had summoned him, he padded out of his room still half asleep, his hair a disaster and eyes unfocused.

Joey said a quick good morning before running into the bathroom to finish getting ready for the day. As usual, he was leaving before Seto was awake, though he'd held a secret hope that maybe _today_ Seto would wake up early.

He wasn't used to the lack of alarms, clocks, phones, and other various machines that somehow managed to interrupt his sleep every morning. He couldn't slowly move from asleep to awake. When he awoke he did so as he did most things; completely and efficiently.

Sometime during the night he'd flipped over, which was also unusual because once he asleep he normally didn't move. He looked to his right, but Joey was gone. Logically, he knew the blonde had gone to work. Emotionally, he felt cheated.

He didn't let himself think about it too long, and walked out of the room. Mokuba was sitting at the table, as usual, eating his sugar coated candy in milk. Mokuba gave him a goofy grin. "What?" Seto questioned.

"I _know_." Mokuba said with a smirk.

"What are you talking about?"

"Joey tells me everything."

"Is that so?"

"Mmm hmm," Mokuba taunted, giving his brother an evil smile. Seto chose not to respond. "Seto has a _boyf__-"_

Seto cut off the rest of the taunt with a hand over Mokuba's mouth. He couldn't say that word. Not that he was at all afraid of Mokuba or anybody else hearing or saying or thinking or knowing it. He was afraid of hearing it himself. Hearing it aloud would make it too real. "He slept in my room, that's _all._"

"I knew it!" Mokuba exclaimed, pulling his mouth away and jumping out of his seat.

Seto realized he'd been tricked, and narrowed his eyes at his brother. "How did you guess?"

Mokuba, who very rarely succeeded in outwitting his brother (and half those times he was pretty sure Seto let him), gloated shamelessly. "I came out to go to the bathroom last night, or early this morning, and Joey wasn't on the couch. I knew he was home, the clothes he wore were on the floor. At first I thought he was in the bathroom and I nearly cried because I had to pee so bad, but he wasn't. And since I could see he wasn't in the kitchen, I knew there was only one other place he could be."

"Sneak," Seto admonished.

"Clever," Mokuba corrected, crossing his arms and sticking out his chin. "I didn't do anything wrong. So, tell me _everything_."

"Why?" Seto asked, crossing his own arms to mirror his little brother. "You never feel the need to bless me with information on your romantic interests."

"So now he's a romantic interest?" Mokuba said tauntingly, not allowing Seto to turn the conversation on him. "I thought you had better things to do with your time?" he said, throwing Seto's words back at him.

Seto, for once, was caught off guard. The thought of Joey not being worth his time was so preposterous it was laughable, and yet a week ago he'd said exactly that. "We kissed once," he admitted, defeated.

"And?" Mokuba prompted.

"That's it."

"What do you mean that's it? I'm old enough to take it, big brother, tell me what happened."

"Nothing," Seto said, almost regretfully. Mokuba realized he was telling the truth.

"You mean you _slept_ with him and nothing happened? Jason is going to _kill_ you."

"How do you know about that?" Seto exclaimed.

Mokuba smirked like a cat who'd just reviled the fact he'd stolen all the cream. "A common cause can make two unlikely close friends."

"It's a conspiracy."

"Joe, are you _sure?_"

"Jay," Joey said patiently, opening the door, "he lives five minutes down the road. You live four hours away, and I leave tomorrow. I've already compromised with you by bringing you here. Now shut up and let me enjoy your company."

They walked into the apartment, and headed straight to the kitchen as they were carrying dishes of hot food. Far too much food had been made in the restaurant this evening, and Jason and claimed the excess. Ashton had respectfully declined the invitation to join them, understanding it would be their last night together.

"You know," Jason said, setting the dish down. "A week ago I planned to tie you to the bed tonight and make sure you never forgot me."

A clink of a dish made them aware of another in the room, and they spun around to see Seto standing at the counter they'd had their backs too. Joey wasn't sure whether to groan or snicker. Jason smacked a hand to his forehead, berating himself for not knowing better.

"A week ago Ashton didn't have you wrapped around his finger," Joey went on, attempting to pretend there was nothing wrong with Seto hearing what Jay had said. "Hey, Kaiba, we've brought food. Mokuba around?"

"Napping," Seto answered. "Spent all day at the beach and he wants to stay up all night."

"I'll get him," Jason offered, leaving the room before either could protest. Joey glared at his retreating back. He knew what Jason was trying to do, and in a way he appreciated it. But when it came down to it, he was leaving tomorrow, and wouldn't see Jason again for an indeterminate amount of time. He didn't want to sacrifice what time he had left for the little progress he might or might not make with Seto.

"I didn't realize you were working today," Seto said mildly. "On your last day."

Joey knew instantly the point of the statement was that Joey had not been there when Seto woke up, not that Joey had needed to work.

"I wouldn't have if I could have helped it," Joey said. "I'm glad I didn't wake you."

There it was, the very first verbal acknowledgement that something was going on. In the light, when they could see clearly, and there was no alcohol involved. Seto raised an eyebrow at him, as Joey had just raised the stakes of their challenge. But Seto said nothing; didn't meet his raise.

Jason came back in at that moment, Mokuba following in his wake. Joey moved to him immediately, half because he missed being with Jason, half because he wanted to punish Seto. Jay was slightly surprised when Joey took his hand and wrapped Jason's arm around himself, but didn't push the blonde away. He figured Joey knew what he was doing.

Seto's face was a mask of impassiveness through out the entire meal, though Mokuba chatted with them amicably about what he would miss when they went home tomorrow.

As a matter of course they moved into the living room after the meal. Jay sat down on the chair, hoping to allow Joey and Seto to sit together. Joey had nothing of it, and crawled immediately into Jason's lap.

He smiled contently, knowing as well as he knew himself that Jason would not refuse him. It felt good to be held again; just a week and already he missed touch. When Jason reached up and started to run his hands through Joey's hair, the blonde turned to goo and couldn't be moved for lack of substance.

Most of the talking occurred between Mokuba and Jason. Seto was, as he tended to be, stoic and silent. Joey was too busy clinging to his last bit of Jason to pay much mind to what was going on around him.

"Joe, it's probably time I get home."

Joey's protests were physical rather than verbal, clinging to Jason's arm particularly hard. Jay shook his head, and stood despite Joey's presence, standing him upright. "You'll survive without me, I'm sure."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it," Joey said stubbornly. "You'll come to see me off tomorrow?" Jason didn't miss the _me_ instead of _us._ Joey was taking parting pretty hard, which Jason could understand. The only thing that was easing this for him was knowing that when Joey left tomorrow, Ashton would be ready and willing to comfort him. Joey didn't have such a luxury. Jason spared a heart beat to throw a heated glare at Seto.

The distance between them closed in a hug, tight, hard, and slightly desperate. Jason kissed the top of Joey's head, being taller, and tightened the squeeze before parting. "We're being stupid, we'll see each other tomorrow."

"You're right," Joey agreed, leading Jason to the door. They hugged once more.

"Joe," Jason said seriously, looking him straight in the eye. Now that he allowed himself to see it, Joey could tell that Jason's eyes were a slight shade darker than Seto's. "If something goes wrong," he started, in a volume that would be just enough for the other two to hear if they were listening for it. "Remember you'll always have a place with me. Not just for tonight, but always."

Joey caught the threat behind the meaning, and was touched, again, by the depth of Jason's friendship. Not that his own didn't run just as deep.

"Ditto, Jay." They kissed just once, short and chaste, but meaningful. It carried with it that _little bit more than friends_ bond that they shared. The knew, despite tomorrow, this was their real goodbye. Jason refused to put it off any longer. He opened the door and left, Joey closing it behind him.

Upon losing his friend, Joey felt something like depression settle around his shoulders. He could have shaken it off, but he didn't want to; he wanted to be upset.

"I'm gonna go to bed," Mokuba said suddenly, jumping up.

"I thought you were going to stay up all night?" Seto asked.

"Too tired," Mokuba called, as his door slammed shut.

Joey looked at Seto, who stared back. Seto was sitting on the couch that Joey normally slept on, and right now, he just wanted to sleep, and be depressed. But Seto showed no signs of moving.

"You should follow him," Seto said after a moment of silence.

"That," Joey said, walking over to his suitcase and stripping down to his boxers, despite Seto's presence (hoping it might give him the idea that he was ready for bed), "is that _last_ thing I should do." Joey saw it for what it was, and he wasn't going to take the bait. Seto was going to try to rationalize an end to their heretofore nonexistent relationship before it began using Jason. "It's going to be hard enough to leave. Besides, Ash will probably be waiting for him."

"I doubt that would stop him," Seto observed sourly.

"I know it wouldn't," Joey confirmed. "It wouldn't stop me if the situation was reversed. It's in the rules."

"The rules?" Seto questioned, his sour tone lost to his confusion.

"The rules. Soul mates first, lovers second is the first rule. The next is one always has first claim over the other. The third is to never utilize the second." There it was, and Joey stood facing Seto with his hands on his hips. It was a term, and Seto was going to have to accept it. That was another rule. If you couldn't understand the bond, you couldn't stick around.

"That's it?" Seto asked, obviously wanting to know if there were any more rules.

"That's all that's numbered," Joey went on impatiently; he was cold and upset, and Seto was on his bed. "The rest are implied in the rule of only never."

"Elaborate," Seto asked, trying to feign only faint interest but intently studying Joey and his answers.

Joey barely managed to suppress a sign of exasperation. "Only Jay has the right to demand anything of me. Jay would never demand anything of me. Only Jay has the right to betray my trust. Jay would never betray my trust. Only Jay is allowed to tell me to leave a relationship. Jay never would. Only never."

"It hardly seems useful to be granted those rights and never use them," Seto countered, his eyes narrowing.

"I don't think I'm capable of explaining it to you, Kaiba. Now, I'm cold, I'm tired, and damn it, I'm _upset_. I'd like to go to bed and sleep so I don't have to think about being alone."

"And?" Seto taunted, crossing his arms across his chest.

"_You're sitting on my bed_."

"I'm doing no such thing." Joey mouth fell open at that, not sure how to respond to something so illogical. In his momentary shock, Seto stood and closed the distance between them, wrapping his warm arms around Joey's chilled chest. "You don't sleep out here anymore."

Joey fell limp against him. Seto had met his raise, it was acknowledged and real. His eyes closed without his consent. Seto's warms tightened around his waist in order to hold him up. The next thing hew knew, Seto's lips were against his. Three heart beats later, he hadn't pulled back yet.

In that instant, the depression and emotional tangle Joey had put himself in dissipated, and he was thinking clearly. He had to be careful he didn't manage to screw this up again.

He yielded completely to Seto, knowing instinctively that, right now, showing any form of dominance would scare Seto away. Seto's right hand moved up to cup the side of Joey's face, and when he moved to make the kiss deeper, Joey let him instantly.

Vaguely, in the part of his mind that wasn't completely focused on how to keep this going, he wondered where Seto had learned to kiss like that. There was a brief moment where he had to calm himself enough to breathe through his nose. Slowly, Joey reached up and wrapped his arms around Seto's neck like he had last night, angling his body to Seto's more, which allowed the kiss to deepen further.

Seto's hand moved from the side of Joey's face to the back of his head, threading his fingers through Joey's hair. Before he could even begin to think whether or not it was a good idea, Joey moaned into Seto's mouth. He couldn't have helped it even if he'd thought about it. Not when Seto's hand was in his hair.

Seto pulled away, and for one terrifying moment Joey feared he'd messed up again. But Seto's eyes met his and chased away that doubt. Seto's normally bright blue eyes were gray, not due to darkness, as the lights were still on, but with smoldering desire. That one look inspired a longing in Joey that went so far beyond merely sexual there was no comparison. The need was so strong that it physically hurt; as if something inside his chest and the back of his throat was trying to force it's way out.

When Seto took a step back, that pull inside his chest forced Joey forward. Three steps later Seto's progress toward his room was halted when Joey grabbed and clung to him, hiding his face in Seto's chest. Seto couldn't have gotten away again even if he'd wanted to. So they moved slower, and more awkwardly, as Joey would not give Seto an inch of space. But it hardly mattered.

A new fear had risen in Joey; that of last night. Seto had awakened something inside him that he'd never known existed. And if last night repeated itself, he knew he wouldn't be able to take it. He'd do something he'd regret. Seto couldn't back out of this, because Joey wouldn't be able to.

Joey had no idea his fears were unfounded. Seto wanted Joey so badly that the intensity frightened him. But not enough to stop him. Whatever had gone wrong last night hadn't the slightest chance of happening again.

Getting into the room proved difficult. Seto had the hardest time convincing the door knob to turn, and a harder time still convincing Joey to turn so they would fit through the doorway. Once inside with the door shut, however, Joey seemed to be able to let go. The space between them made the three steps to the bed easy.

Seto caught Joey in a kiss again, before sending them both down in a controlled fall onto the mattress. For some time neither moved, caught in the kiss. Joey shifted slightly, rolling onto his back and pulling Seto half on top of him, never allowing their lips to part.

Some of Seto's nerves calmed with the action. At least he wouldn't have to fight Joey for control. With reluctance, he pulled away from the flaxen haired boy's lips. Joey kept his eyes closed, taking deep breaths. Seto spent a moment just looking at him. In a way, he almost looked scared.

Joey's eyes flew open and met Seto's with anything but fear. They were near black with need. Black and grey caught each other and held as they both were realizing this was real despite their silence.

(Ykarzel: Missing right here would be the climax of the story, pun intending. Seriously it loses its meaning completely without this lemon. I beg you to go check it out.)

A few minutes later, Joey's began to become aware, and blinked dazedly at Seto. He reached out with both arms, whining like a child, until Seto came to him. Joey clung, unable to think whether or not their relationship was ready for this or if it would bother Seto. He buried his face in Seto's shoulder, and clung.

After a stiff moment of attitude, Seto relented, and pulled Joey even tighter against him. Joey nuzzled sleepily and began to relax, now that he was held. Seto found his eyes drooping too.

Staring at Joey's already sleeping figure, he reflected that the amount of emotions the blonde caused in him was astounding. Moments ago it had been desire so strong it was painful, and now it was almost a motherly need to protect and guard. Exhaustion prevented him from contemplating it any further, as his mind began to shut down.

Rather than awake all at once as he usually did, Seto slowly eased away from the dream world. The first thing that he noticed was his nose felt wet and cold. He twitched it to try to figure out why without opening his eyes, and heard a giggle.

That caused his eyes to fly open, and land on Joey, who smiled innocently, then reached out with the tip of his tongue to lick Seto's nose again. Seto blinked twice, as his mind caught up with where he was, why he was there, and who was with him.

Joey snuggled closer before Seto had any chance to respond to the licking, and nuzzled Seto's neck. "Morning," he said, though it was muffled.

An early morning, half awake bout of fear hit Seto, and he pulled Joey to him and held him there, as if he would disappear or leave. Joey responded by covering his neck in butterfly kisses.

Seto found his voice. "Are you always like this in the morning?" he asked.

Joey snickered. "Only after I've been screwed senseless." He shifted so their lips were even and kissed Seto slowly. Seto responded sluggishly, still caught half in sleep, and his hand came up to cup Joey's cheek. Joey pulled away and smiled. "I like you this way. Half awake and vulnerable."

Under normal circumstances that comment probably would have bothered Seto, but right now he was more concerned with better uses for Joey's mouth than talking. He pulled him back into a kiss, and relaxed into enough he could fall back to sleep, something he never did.

Slowly, Joey removed himself from Seto's arms and untangled himself from the blankets. At first Seto adverted his eyes, but then thought better of it and turned to appreciate Joey's body in the daylight. The blonde was unaware of Seto's eyes, as he searched around the bed for his boxers.

"We need showers," Seto observed, noting the way Joey's hair stuck up in several directions.

Holding his located boxers in one hand, Joey walked back over to Seto and took his hand. He pressed it up against his stomach. Under his palm, Seto could feel a small earthquake. "First, we need food," Joey said, laughing. "I'm starving." He stepped into his boxers and pulled them up. Seto sat up, modestly remaining under the blankets.

Joey crossed his arms. "You better get some clothes on, because I am not going out there to face the kid without you."

Seto groaned. Joey laughed and went over to Seto's mostly packed suitcase. He threw a clean pair of boxers at Seto, then stole a white tee shirt to wear himself. It was a little big on him; Seto's shoulders were wider, but that only made him smile. When he turned back around, Seto was out of bed and clothed.

When they walked out of the room, Joey made a beeline for the kitchen, and Seto followed. Mokuba was sitting at the table, eating a bowl of cereal, and didn't look up at them. However, he had a huge grin on his face that made Seto groan and Joey blushed.

"Morning," Joey said, reaching for the box of cereal.

"Good morning," Mokuba said through his smile. "Sleep well?"

"Shut up," Joey said, kicking the boy under the table, making Mokuba laugh. The dark haired boy passed Joey the milk, and said nothing more.

Seto sat down beside them, the paper opened in front of him so his face was visible to neither his brother nor Joey. Under the table, however, his leg linked around Joey's ankle, causing Joey to smile. Now he was ready to go home.

End of Part Two

Sand Lover

By Ykarzel

Epilogue

Walking in, Seto tossed his keys on the table by the door, because by tomorrow, that would be the only place he would be able to find them. When they clanged against another set of keys, he smiled. Joey was here.

That caused his head to lift and back to straighten, despite his exhaustion. For the past week everything at the office had been murder, and in school finals were coming up. Not that school took up much of Seto's time, but Joey was terrified of failing a class, and as a result, not being able to graduate.

Soon, though, the semester would be over and they'd all have a break for the holidays. Part of the reason everything at Kaiba Corp was so hectic was that he was planning to take off for the entirety of winter break.

He took the stairs slowly, hoping to sneak up on the blonde. Once on the second floor, he could hear Joey's voice down the hall, which meant his door was open.

"Jay, you don't want to back out of this. It's probably time you did it, even if you don't want to."

Intrigued, Seto paused outside his door. He was interested to see what Jason had gotten in to that had Joey concerned enough to be on the phone this time of night.

"Oh, don't be stupid. They raised Ashton didn't they? They can't be that bad. Besides, he's met your mom, you owe him."

Seto leaned against the wall, and waited. He felt no guilt for eavesdropping, because it was Jason on the other side, who loved to eavesdrop on him if he could convince Joey to go along with it. It wasn't that he particularly disliked Jason. Over time, he'd gotten used to the daily phone calls and e-mails, and being constantly updated on Jason's life. The fact was, however, that Joey told Jason everything. Jason knew things that Seto wouldn't admit to under torture. He didn't really like the thought of anybody but Joey having that much potential blackmail.

"Oh, no, I don't. It's at home. I'm at Seto's. No, don't worry about it, he's not here yet. He's at work. It's been a hell of a week, I just miss him."

Seto smiled. Despite Joey's ease in saying things like that, it never got old hearing them.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a little bit better with psychology class now. Math is still scaring me, but there's not much more I can do about it any more. As long as I pass I'll be fine." Despite Seto's aid, and hours of studying, Joey was still having problems in his math class. It was hard for Seto to understand how to help somebody in something that came so easily to him.

Joey groaned. "Jay, _don't_ talk about it, I don't want to think about it. It was so easy before. I wasn't going to go to college, I was going to come live with you and work at the beach." Joey's voice was getting further away, and Seto realized he'd walked into the bathroom. He moved into the room, anxious to hear what Joey was saying.

"I know, Jay, and it'd be cool, but I can't leave Seto any more than you can leave Ash. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'll probably get my own apartment around here. I'm tired of living with the old man." Joey paused, and Seto sat down on his bed, taking off his shoes. "Huh," came Joey's voice again. "I don't know, I hadn't thought about it. Ashton hasn't moved in with you yet." Joey paused, then snorted. "You actually think anybody believes that? Everybody in the hotel knows you guys fuck on days that end in y. Seriously, it was different living with you. I wasn't dependent on you, I wasn't in love with you."

Seto smiled again. Somehow, hearing Joey talk about being in love with him, when he had no idea Seto could hear him, meant even more than being told. The moving in thing might have been a new idea for Joey, but Seto had been thinking about it for over a month. It seemed more practical than visiting each other. It wasn't as if there was a lack of space; Joey could even have his own room so they both had their own space. But it had never seemed appropriate to bring it up. For once, he was grateful for Jason saying something before he did.

"I don't know, Jay. I mean, that's a really big step." Joey laughed. "Alright, you've got a deal. You go home with Ashton for Christmas and meet his parents, and when summer gets closer I'll bring it up to Seto. Agreed?" Joey paused. "Did he really? Let me talk to him."

His shoes off, Seto laid back on the bed, and loosened his tie. He knew better than to take it off; Joey would be upset at being denied the privilege.

"Hey Ash. Code it if he's still in the room. I talked to him about your parents, and he's gonna go, alright?" Joey laughed again. "No problem. Call me if you ever need him manipulated again." There was another pause. "Hello love, miss me? Oh, I see how it is. Soon as the hot boy walks in with a willing ass you don't want to talk to me anymore. Fine, I don't need you. My boyfriend is coming home to me." Joey laughed. "Love you too Jay. Have fun."

Seto heard Joey's cell flip closed, and he walked into the room. "Hey!" Joey said brightly, upon seeing Seto laid back on the bed. He crawled on to it and grabbed Seto by the tie, using it to pull him up for a kiss. "Surprised?"

Seto smirked. "I knew you were here as soon as I saw your keys."

"Mmm, how was work?" Joey asked between kisses.

"It was work. Were you waiting long?"

Joey grinned. "I've been here since school let out utilizing your internet. I was studying psych. Mokuba and I ordered pizza."

Seto laid back again, pulling Joey with him. "You might as well move in," he said, grinning.

Joey blushed. "I wondered if you were out here for that." He shrugged. "Maybe later in the year." Using Seto's tie again, simply because he loved the control it gave him, he pulled Seto into another kiss. "We can talk about it later, when I'm not using you for stress release."

"Oh, that's what you're doing?" Seto asked, as Joey's hands set to unbuttoning his shirt. "I'm being used?"

Joey laughed and nuzzled Seto's neck. "I missed you."

Seto reached up wrapped his arms around Joey, and pulled him into a tight hug. "Ditto."

End

Dedicated to Ben, my Benniepoo.

_Ykarzel: Okay, so, that took about a year more than it was supposed to. ::shrug:: It's novel length though. I ought to change the names and publish this one. Now, I have an inkling, for a prequel, about how Joey and Jason came to be as close as they are, but I didn't want to write it first because, well I didn't know Jason yet. So upon request, I might do it, or it can just stay in my head. _


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